Peter Tomka's Bedside Table
Green eyes, Moon texts, and the occasional butt cheek :: Q&A with the photographer who was there from the start
Peter Tomka’s prints were the very first to adorn the walls of Studio Nocturne. His beautiful and familiar black and white photographs were a quiet company when I was there alone, in those early nights. Since we’ve met, we’ve always been good at supporting each other. We share a fascination for the Moon and always think to text when she rises, new or full. A Libra Sun, Cancer Moon, Sagittarius Venus: as tender as he is delightfully cheeky. So naturally, his first monograph, a soft and deep green velvet casebound, was designed to be read intimately, en tête-à-tête.
I love him deeply. After reading this, I’m sure you will too.
SN: What were you listening to while making this?
PT: I have been working on the back log of my archive and getting up to date. This bedside table has been through some time zones. I have listened to many different sounds-- a cat calling for their food, early morning construction zones, Steve Nobel mediations, the poolside sounds of swimmers, interior judgements, new advice, self help, Lorenzi, soundcloud remixes, the planets by Holtz, long form political retellings in the background of the living room.
SN: What’s on your bedside table at the moment?
PT: Back in Los Angeles my mattress lays over a rug so there is no need for a table, there is a clock radio elevated on a stack of classical tomes. These things are frozen in time as I am in Thailand at the moment visiting my high school friend Susannah. My guest bedroom table has a travel alarm clock, toiletries, vitamins, toothbrush and all. I cover my eyes at night to go to sleep and there is a bandana for that as well as my dream journal to record my night wanderings and whereabouts. I keep my phone out of sight.
SN: Last thing that kept you up
PT: Staying up late to call my landlord in California, it is a nice feeling to have first access to the day here at hand before the rest of the world, but then it extends the day even longer when they get online. On Sunday nights I try to get on a group call with friends back in the states and that will keep me up past my bedtime. I like to wake up early to write in the morning and that requires a head start on sleep.
SN: What do you do with the quiet?
PT: I try to get to the quiet rather than look to fill it. This is all news to me though since I am learning to embrace it like an eat, pray, love journey. Before swimming laps I have this routine where I like to sink to the bottom of the pool and sit there a while in order to get comfortable with the water. At that depth most things are quiet. I would like to take the quiet on with more cause and intention.
SN: What moved you recently that you didn’t expect?
PT: We did three consecutive nights of movies: The Great Dictator by Chaplin, Dr Strangelove by Kubrick, and The Death of Stalin by Iannucci. I did not expect to be moved by how moved Susannah was by the final address Charlie Chaplin gives at the end of The Great Dictator. She then proceeded to give her own freestyle monologue about the Muppets and Miss Piggy— I enjoy when tears bring you to laughter and then bring you back to tears, what a balanced diet.
His website, his monograph Double Player published in 2025 by TBW Books and distributed by PKB available at Nocturne alongside his incredible unique editions of prints & cahiers.
