Born in Henan Province, China, in 1953, Liu Yuan is a freelance photographer and has travelled to more than a hundred countries, creating more than a hundred albums and exhibited more than seventy times. This book is a distillation of his work from the last decade, covering every country in the world that has been (or is still) touched by communism. The most striking thing is just how little has changed in so many of these countries in terms of traditions, architecture, culture and identity, but equally Liu Yuan manages to capture beautiful juxtapositions between old and young, yesterday and today, ancient and modern.
To compliment Liu’s style of reportage photography, the design of the book has a very editorial feel, with elements such as bold headlines and pull-out quotes taken from Sunday supplements and magazines. Red is so synonymous with communism that it would be impossible to not utilise it in some way, but it’s largely used as a secondary colour behind black, enhancing the look and feel of something more journalistic.
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