Peter Bialobrzeski
Sarajevo Diary

Sarajevo Diary, April 10–April 18, 2019

April 18, 2019
“A cable car takes me up a steep hill. The buildings surrounding this unusual transport remind me of South American favelas. It is avant-garde architecture, a mixture of Swiss Brutal- ism of the eighties and playful brick decoration. I immediately like it and catch sight of the huge apartment complex that has been build for the athletes of the 1984 Winter Olympics. Reach Out, that Moroder tune written for the Olympics, starts playing in my head while I suddenly realize that the parking lot I am looking down at is that very one I had seen days ago in a photograph at the Historical Museum. The cars had the typical color of the late 1980s. And were all wrecks, smashed up by grenades and shells.”

About the City Diaries
The city at the beginning of the twenty-first century is the major theme of Peter Bialobrzeski’s “City Diaries”. In this long-term project, which so far comprises 19 volumes, he has been investigating since 2013 whether the preconception of a city — a product of prejudices, personal observations and media communications — can be transformed into a specific image. Whether Osaka or Unna, Wuhan or Wolfsburg, Bialobrzeski is interested in the cultural differences increasingly hidden by globalization, which he makes visible by means of a seemingly objectifying aesthetic. Current political and social developments are also reflected in Bialobrzeski’s images and diary entries. Cairo, for example, cannot be understood without the Arab Spring, Athens without the euro crisis, and Wolfsburg, of course, without VW and the emissions scandal. On the occasion of the publication of “Athens Diary,” Melanie Mühl wrote in the FAZ: “Everyone should see these photographs.”
The format and page count of all titles are identical. This systematic approach allows for a comparative view of different urban settings, ranging from a megalopolis like Bangkok to a Westphalian medium-sized town like Unna. Further volumes will be published in loose order over the next few years.

Peter Bialobrzeski’s work has been exhibited worldwide. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including two World Press Photo Awards (2003, 2010). In 2012 he was granted the Dr. Erich Salomon Award by the German Photographic Society.