In Bangkok’s sexual underground, “worlds meet, the rich, the poor…. In some rare moments of animalistic freedom, drunkenness and ecstasy, differences disappear, man, woman, man-woman.” In Patpong: Bangkok’s Twilight Zone, German photojournalist Nick Nostitz chronicles that money-driven convergence. Nostitz, who worked on the book for seven years, toured Patpong’s streets, discos, go-go bars and “blow-job bars,” forming close relationships with his subjects male and female prostitutes, transsexuals, junkies, tourists, misfits and expatriates. He presents his deliberately chaotic photos in scrapbook form with handwritten captions, and in accompanying essays he meditates on his Bangkok experiences, which include having sex with a hooker who said she had AIDS. Few readers will be convinced by Nostitz’s celebrations of Third World exploitation by first world “misfits,” but the pictures remain luridly compelling. 120 color and b&w photos.
