Civilization

Our fast-changing world seen through the lenses of 140 leading contemporary photographers around the globe. With close to 500 images, many previously unpublished, this landmark publication takes stock of the material and spiritual cultures that make up civilization. Ranging from the ordinary to the extraordinary, from our great collective achievements to our ruinous collective failings, Civilization: The Way We Live Now explores the complexity of contemporary civilization through the rich, nuanced language of photography. Featuring images by some 140 photographers from Reiner Riedlers families at leisure parks, Raimond Woudas high schools, Wang Qingsongs Work, Work, Work and Cindy Shermans Society Portraits, to Lauren Greenfields displays of ostentatious wealth, Edward Burtynskys oil fields, Pablo Lopez Luzs views on a sprawling contemporary megalopolis, Thomas Struths images of high technology, Xing Danwens electronic wastelands and Taryn Simons Contraband, Civilization draws together the threads of humankinds ever-changing, frenetic, collective life across the globe. Visually epic, Civilization is presented through eight thematic chapters, each featuring powerful imagery and accompanied by provocative essays, quotes and concise statements by the artists themselves.