William A. Ewing and Holly Roussell
Thames & Hudson
Publication: 16 October 2018
£39.95 hardback
ISBN: 978 0 500 021705
Our fast-changing world seen through the lenses of 140 leading contemporary photographers around the globe. We hurtle together into the future at ever-increasing speed – or so it seems to the collective psyche. Perpetually evolving, morphing, building and demolishing, rethinking, reframing and reshaping the world around and ahead – and the people within it – an emerging, planetary-wide Civilization is our grand, global, collective endeavour. Never before in human history have so many people been so interconnected, and so interdependent.
With close to 500 images, many previously unpublished, this landmark publication takes stock of the material and spiritual cultures that make up ‘civilization’.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.
This ambitious publication is accompanied by an internationally touring exhibition produced by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography – a global cultural event for a global subject.
To coincide with the launch of the book will be a selection of photographs at Flowers Gallery, London E2. The exhibition ‘Civilization' is on view from 7 November – 22 December. www.flowersgallery.com
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
Seoul, South Korea
October 18 2018 - February 17 2019
Civilization: The Collective Life is a major exhibition, featuring the work of 100 of the world’s finest photographers. It addresses and illuminates major aspects of our increasingly global 21st century civilization. It stresses the fact that contemporary civilization is an extremely complex collective enterprise. Never before in human history have so many people been so interconnected, and so dependent on one another. In science and art, at work and play, we increasingly live the collective life. The Olympic Games, the giant Airbus, CERN, MRI, the Trident Submarine, Wikipedia, the Academy Awards, the International Space Station, Viagra, the laptop computer and the smartphone... However we feel about any of them, none of these complex phenomena would have been possible without superlatively coordinated efforts involving highly educated, highly trained, highly motivated, highly connected people.
Further information and future touring venues here: https://www.fep-photo.org/exhibition/civilizationthe-way-we-live-now/