Inside Out Kochi by André Luetzen

Kochi, southern India, monsoon season: For months the sun is hidden and the city veiled in a clammy, milky grey haze. Heavy rains flood streets and public spaces and force people inside even though living spaces are crowded and the heat is breathtaking. The pictures of this series focus on the life and living conditions in the city of Kochi during these monsoon months. With Inside Out India I continue my work on »Living Cities – inner and outer spaces« that I began in Hanoi, Vietnam and Arkhangelsk, Russia. Climate and social circumstances define the living situations and lead to a very diverse interplay between private and public.
(See the publications “Public Private Hanoi” and “Zhili Byli”)

‘Inside Out Kochi’

has been published in February 2016 by Peperoni Books in Berlin.
For ›Inside Out Kochi‹ André Lützen traveled to the harbour city in southwest India. And as in the predecessor ›Zhili Byli‹ with photographs from the Russian city of Arkhangelsk, he was mostly interested in the people, young and old, men and women, their habitat, private and public, in- and outdoors, and how they arrange themselves.
The climate plays a role, the monsoon. The streets are wet, rain falls, the humidity hangs heavy in the air. The people hardly move, they lie, sit or stand. There is a sense of immobility and paralysis. But, and also this is visible in Lützen’s images, it is not only the monsoon. The colonial past, the difficult economic situation that makes it hard for many to ensure their survival, the uncertain future of the region – all of this is painfully palpable. But we also see moments with people at one with themselves. The book shows a city and a people in search of identity, stuck between tradition and modernity in a globalized world.
A third volume with pictures from Khartoum, capital of Sudan, is in preparation and will be released 2017.
Enclose you will find a link to Peperoni Books to order a review copy as well to André Lützen website to view the pictures.

http://peperoni-books.de/inside_out_kochi0.html
http://www.andreluetzen.de/works/inside-out-kochi/
www.andreluetzen.de

Photographer:
André Luetzen
Special thanks to:
Peperoni Books - Berlin
Text:
Peperoni Books - Berlin