Geschlossene Gesellschaften: Eine fotografische
Reise durch kommunistische Länder
Tomas van Houtryve
Benteli
German
Foreword by philosopher Tzvetan Todorov
288 Pages
23 x 21 cm
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-7165-1714-7
In several nations across the globe, the Communist Party has managed to hold on, mutate and adapt to the 21st century. Whether due to unaddressed class inequality, nostalgia or the steel fist of totalitarianism, these places continue to resist against the tides of history.
Over the course of seven years, award-winning documentary photographer Tomas van Houtryve secured unprecedented access to North Korea, Cuba, China, Nepal, Vietnam, Laos and Moldova. He discovered a secretive world of revolutionaries, spies, opposition fighters and ordinary workers. His photographs explore the gulf between the high ideals of communism and its complex present day reality.
About the Artist:
Tomas van Houtryve is an artist, photographer and author who engages critical contemporary issues around the world.
Initially a student in philosophy, Tomas developed a passion for photography while enrolled in an overseas university program in Nepal. Immediately after graduation in 1999, he moved to Latin America. In 2002, he was the photographer to cover the military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Tomas returned to Nepal in 2004 to document the Maoist rebellion and the overthrow of the monarchy. The resulting photos earned wide recognition including the Visa pour l’Image-Perpignan Young Photographer Award and the Bayeux Prize for War Correspondents.
In 2006 Tomas was named one of PDN’s 30 Emerging Photographers. He was awarded an Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship in 2008, and in 2010 he was named the POY Photographer of the Year.
Artist Website
About the Author:
Tzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist. He is the author of many books and essays, which have had a significant influence in anthropology, sociology, semiotics, literary theory, thought history and culture theory.
About the Publisher:
Benteli Verlag was founded in 1899 and is based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Book Materials and Specifications:
Hardcover medium sized book with a stitched perfect binding. Colour plates printed on black paper range in size from 5 x 7.5″ to 8 x 12″.
