Song Chao

Featuring the most prominent names in contemporary Chinese photography, these pocket-sized monographs explore the extraordinary diversity of the genre and showcase a creative, liberated, and unique artistic perspective. The collections present an obscure tableau of modern Chinese society, from magnificent landscapes and never-before-seen industrial compounds to the desires of China’s new youth and its growing sociopolitical challenges. The imagery from some of the most exciting artists working today—including “the invisible man” photos of Liu Bolin and the world-famous coal miner portraits of Song Chao—is prefaced with a concise essay that explains the background and inspiration of each featured photographer.

Song Chao was 19 when he arrived at the coal mine. Three years later he discovered photography. After a year of study, he completed his very first deeply moving series that gained him international recognition. This series took him out of the mine in Shandong province to the global art stage. Filled with a deep humanity, Song Chao’s photographs go far beyond the documentary to open the theater of human emotions. Considered one of the 50 photographers of tomorrow, Song Chao is the portraitist of Time magazine and the New York Times in China, and his works have appeared in many publications around the world.