Record: Tell

Author: (German) Lebeck Photography / Ganlei / Zhao Nan Editing
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-12-01
Features: Due to change, the emerging "Visual 21" magazine that gained prominence between 1999-2002 has been transformed. Many insights revealed that many readers still held expectations for that somewhat unconventional publication. Therefore, we have repurposed "Visual 21" into this series of books. Unlike the original magazine, the current "Visual 21" series will be purely image-driven, with each volume focusing on a specific theme—or, it will abandon the magazine's relative diversity to become a pure "visual reading" book. Of course, the series will no longer adhere to a fixed monthly publication schedule but will instead release several volumes relatively steadily each year.
What remains connected to the original magazine: The series will continue to wield images as a powerful tool, delighting in spreading "a different perspective on the world," showcasing individuality, pursuing vibrancy, carrying messages, and shaping social norms, all while providing knowledge, leisure, education, and services to the young HIPPIEs and YUPPIEs of the world. It will continuously and broadly present the highly infectious visual representations of the changes and conflicts in our contemporary living world, such as fashion, idols, brands, consumption, art, alternatives, gaming, and various transformations and clashes concerning the environment, culture, wealth, war, and more.
I remember a reader once reviewed the original "Visual 21": "A bit flamboyant, a bit confrontational, and a bit sarcastic." Indeed, we are often deeply moved by the courage and wisdom of the world's outstanding image creators, and we truly admire the many excellent media worldwide for delivering compelling visual storytelling to human life. We also want to join the ranks of expressing creativity and opinions, but due to our awkwardness and helplessness, we can only achieve a little.
Some have also said, "Visual 21" is avant-garde and alternative. In fact, the development and changes of the times have far exceeded the original understanding of many people. Who knew that the mainstream things we now recognize and pursue were once the very things we fiercely rejected. Imagine: how can a society that is constantly evolving and coexists in diversity not have avant-garde and alternative elements?
For example, when "wearing" becomes overly saturated and fails to express desire, people start "unwearing," seeking to shed the darkness and embrace the light to show openness, and thus, nudity becomes increasingly popular. In this way, things once opposed are transformed from being alternative and avant-garde into widely embraced fashion. Isn't that right? What we aim to do is replicate the various changes occurring in the world and the many differences that exist. Under limited conditions, we hope to introduce to young readers the courage and wisdom that inspire us, along with their brilliance, so that we don't just fabricate and spread things lacking personality and thought, wasting everyone's money and time.