With the liberalization of the economy, India's middle class split in two at the beginning of the 1990s. The traditionalists retained their strong position in the bureaucracy; the modern part opted for a riskier existence in international business. Where the first relax with family activities, the second seek their satisfaction in the seductions of the consumer society. These are often in conflict with moral, cultural and religious values. Thus the new middle class ends up wrestling not only with the demands and expectations of capitalism, but also with the gap between tradition and modernity.

Tom Pietrasik (Great Britain/India, b. 1972) began as a freelance photographer in Scotland. Since 2001 he has been stationed in India, where he works for clients such as The Guardian, Times Magazine and Newsweek. He worked for many years on his portrait of the Indian middle class (1998-2006)