Peter Bialobrzeski: Neon Tigers

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3775713948 ISBN 13: 9783775713948

Publisher: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2004

Photographer Peter Bialobrzeski here merges the seven Asian cities of Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Jakarta, Singapore, and Shenzhen into a virtual megatropolis. The result is a view of a world that no longer seems real but appears instead as a series of dream-images from an eccentric director or computer game designer. References to reality evoke a sense of conflict in the viewer, as appreciation for the beauty of the absurd competes with recognition of an irreversible process of change in urban living space. Two different growth models are exposed: unscrupulous, uncontrolled expansion, as in Bangkok, and controlled, yet equally unscrupulous growth in a city like Shanghai. The pictures burst with conflicting signs and symbols, mostly indecipherable to the western viewer, a semiotic overkill held in check only by the edge of the picture frame.

About the Author:

Peter Bialobrzeski was born in Wolfsburg, Germany, in 1961. He was awarded first prize in the Art category at the prestigious World Press Photo Awards in 2003. His previous books are XXX Holy: Journeys into the Spiritual Heart of India and Neon Tigers.