Social in the Lens (Up and Down)

Author: Zhao Tielin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: This book compiles over 1,500 photographs in a special format, with a significant portion being published for the first time. In terms of narrative style, Zhao Tielin has made bold attempts. On the surface, combining images and text may seem straightforward, but truly achieving a seamless integration ("like water and milk, perfectly blended") is not an easy task, requiring considerable skill in both photography and written language. In this book, the author not only showcases the so-called "good" photographs that have been published but also displays nearly all the supporting images for these limited photographs. The text has also been refined to achieve precision and maturity, avoiding "ignoring one aspect while focusing on another."
Zhao Tielin was born in 1948. He spent most of his primary and secondary school years in Beijing. From 1968 to 1970, he worked as a youth laborer in Xinxiang, Henan. In 1977, he was a worker at the Capital Iron and Steel Works. In 1978, he enrolled in the Industrial Automation Department of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and stayed at the university after graduation. In 1986, he joined the Beijing Computer Technology Research Institute. In 1989, he began his business career, but the company went bankrupt five years later. In recent years, he has completed numerous works using his camera and pen, primarily reflecting social focal issues and gaining widespread public attention, as well as recognition from peers both domestically and internationally. In 2002, he was appointed as the Director of the Imaging Lab at the Contemporary China Research Center of Tsinghua University.
His major works include:
- Social in the Lens (published in 2004)
- Black and White Songzhuang – The Artistic Pursuits and Life Confessions of a Generation of Discontinuity (published in 2003)
- Fading Memories (published in 2003)
- Focused on Survival – Zhao Tielin’s Alternative Life Photography Notes (published in 2002)
- Alternative Life – The Real World Through the Eyes of a Photographer (published in 2000)
- Focused on Survival – Girls Wandering on the Fringes of the Metropolis (published in 1999)
This book collects more than 30 photographic reports by the author over the past seven years, covering various aspects of China’s "lower society," accompanied by over 1,500 photographs that possess great impact and, with a significant portion being published for the first time.