The Chinese Photobook

Book excerpt: "The Chinese Photobook : From the 1900s to the Present offers an introduction to the richness and diversity of photobooks published about China, including key titles by established and emerging contemporary Chinese photographers published in recent years; books created by early colonial powers in China, including France, Germany, and Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War; and a selection of books produced during the first years of New China and the Cultural Revolution, among many others. Over the last decade there has been a major reappraisal of the role and status of the photobook within the history of photography. These revisionist histories have added enormously to our reading and understanding of the culture of photography, particularly in places that are often marginalized, such as Latin America and South Africa. However, until now, only a few Chinese photobooks have made it onto historians' short lists. Yet China has a fascinating history of publishing photography--including publications produced by the Chinese state as well as those that offer an external perspective, by some of the world's greatest photographers. Here, over 250 volumes, drawn primarily from Martin Parr's peer-less collection of photobooks, are contextualized by and international team of scholars and historians: Gu Zheng, Raymond Lum, Ruben Lundgren, Stephanie H. Tung, and Gerry Badger. Their painstaking research into each of the featured books unveils a complex, multifaceted perspective of China, revealing much about the country and the dramatic twists and turns of its history over the last century." -- Book jacket.