Dhaka, 2019
From the series City Diaries
August 5, 2024
This photograph's buzzing array of street vendors, cycle rickshaws, cars, and pedestrians is striking in the way that no single entity seems to be moving in the exact same direction. Peter Bialobreszki had the genius to shoot this scene from above, where the tangled mesh of overhead wires become a series of vectors, suggestive of the crisscrossing routes being taken on the street below.
Peter Bialobrzeski originally studied politics and sociology before turning to photography, so it comes as no surprise that he has made his name with pictures that capture the complex sociological fabric of global urbanization. This photo was taken in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh and the most densely built-up urban area in the world. Like many of the newly emergent global megacities, Dhaka has grown at a rate that has often outpaced planning and infrastructure.
In photographs like this one, Bialobrzeski shows us how cities arise from the intricate patterns that are created by the forces and residents at work there.
