Monday, November 22, 2010

Expressing the Orient: A Photo Exploration of China

I have finished my photo book. It is titled - Expressing the Orient: A Photo Exploration of China.

Here is the cover:



Expressing the Orient is 70 pages of color photographs that I took during my three years in China. Some of the most interesting places in China are featured. Chinese people, both the Han majority and ethnic minorities, distinct landscapes, and the contrast between ancient history and contemporary development are themes explored in the book.

The book can be purchased from blurb.com here.

The book ships anywhere in the US as well as internationally. Just now, I looked at Blurb's Shipping Calculator. Shipping rates are actually quite reasonable across the globe (the book is "Standard Landscape" and is 70 pages). The one place Blurb does not appear to ship to is China. If you are in China and would like to purchase a copy of the book, email me at markschinablog at gmail dot com and we can work something out.

You can see a the first few pages of the book here:


I'm really happy with the way this book came out and hope that you can enjoy it.

8 comments:

Mark said...

I found a promo code that can get 20% off a purchase at blurb.com right now. If you go to buy this book, at the check out, type in - SAVETWENTY - under promo codes and you will get the book significantly cheaper.

This code is working now but may not work forever. If you find it doesn't work, type "blurb.com promo code" into Google. There usually should be some sort of discount going on.

Lior Paritzky said...

Hi Mark,

This looks like a beautiful book, and I am certain that you worked hard on it. Good job

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, I was just wondering about this the other day actually. Glad to see it has come to fruition. Will order right away and hope to share some thoughts. One thought already... Great Cover!

Mark said...

@Lior - Thank you.

@Hopfrod - Thanks to you too.

Please let me know what you think after you've had a chance to look at it.

I've looked at it several times over the past day or two. Am happy with the way it turned out.

Ramesh said...

Congratulations Mark. I am ordering it now. It'll probably take a month or so to come chugging all the way to India, but it will be worth the wait. I'm sure it will be one to keep for a long time.

Mark said...

Thanks so much, Ramesh. I hope that the book can get to you in a reasonable amount of time. It seems like Blurb has international shipping figured out, so I'm cautiously optimistic.

Anonymous said...

Your book arrived today. My wife immediately commented on the high quality of the paper for a photo book. Lots of cool pics and the Mao/Buddha similarity was a cool juxtaposition. Would liked to have had some backstory on the photos, that would be my only criticism. My favorite pics were of Hua Shan, and regarding them I have a quick question. Did you spend the night up there? Cool photo of it at night and that was a question that popped to mind when I saw it.

Mark said...

Thanks for the kind words, Hopfrog. I'm glad that you and your wife were able to appreciate the quality and the photos.

I've climbed Hua Shan three times and I spent the night on the mountain each time. I climbed the paths up the mountain at night the first two times and stayed at the East Peak until the sun rose. Basically pulled all-nighters climbing.

I have nice memories of those two times, but my most enjoyable experience was the third time when my friend, Andy, and I climbed to the North Peak during the day, stayed at a guest house there, and then made the rest of the peaks the next day. That'd be the way I'd recommend doing the mountain. (This third time was also when I took the photos that made this book).

I see what you're saying about having a back story/narrative. I tried getting that going on a couple different occasions and it just didn't work for me. I wish I had a full back story on the pages, but couldn't get it to work. I hope the photos on their own can convey what I was going for.

Again, thanks for your thoughts on the book, Hopfrog. I'll throw in some thanks for all of the support you've given my blog as well. It's most appreciated.