The Far & Near Holiday Gift Guide!
Our favorite photobooks, magazines, and independent film streaming service
Hi there,
Happy holidays!
Still looking for a gift for a loved one or just wanting to indulge yourself during a much deserved break? We got you. Ranging from photobooks to streaming subscriptions, these creative gifts by Chinese visual storytellers will bring you beauty, nourishment, and inspiration for the new year.
See you in 2022!
Yours,
Yan, Beimeng, Charlotte
“Room Within China”, by various photographers
“Rooms within China” takes you on an intimate visual journey through private spaces in China. Curated by the Copenhagen-based creative studio Tofu Collective, the photobook consists of 100 images taken by 20 Chinese photographers, including Yan and several photographer friends of ours. Beautifully designed and produced, it’s a delight to flip through and linger on the images, and a nice addition to your coffee table or bookshelf.
Buy from Tofu Collective
Cathay Play, Chinese independent film streaming platform
Launched in 2019, CathayPlay is a streaming platform dedicated to presenting Chinese independent films to a global audience. There you will be able to watch a growing collection of more than 300 fiction, documentary, and animation films from filmmakers such as Xu Tong, Fan Popo, Gu Xiaogang, as well as other emerging talents from China. Industry insiders applaud the platform’s efforts: on top of working under harsh financial constraints, Chinese indie filmmakers have had to survive the country’s strict censorship control, making wider distribution of their work a challenge. The subscription plans are $12.99 per month, $34.99 per quarter, and $129.99 per year. At the moment, users are also offered a free rental with the code “CathayPlay”.
Subscribe on Cathay Play
The Rhetoric of Witchcraft, Jiazazhi Magazine Vol.1
In 2016, indie photobook publisher Jiazazhi, whose name literally means “fake magazine” in Chinese, made a trial magazine, which sold out in 10 days. Fast forward to 2021, the real “fake magazine” is finally here. Themed “The Rhetoric of Witchcraft” and edited by curator and writer Wang Huan, the first issue takes photography as a starting point and branches out into exploring art in general — from a two-screen video installation by Chinese artists Jiang Zhi to films by Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
Buy from Taobao or your local bookstores. (See if your local bookstores have the magazine in stock at the end of this page).
“Freezing Land”, by Chen Ronghui
We tend to think about Chinese cities as ever-expanding, but the reality is much more complex. Once China’s industrial heartland, the northeastern region has witnessed drastic economic and population decline in the past decades. Chen Ronghui’s photobook, Freezing Land, published by Jiazazhi, explores the area’s shifting fortunes through its snowy landscape and lonely souls. The photobook is shortlisted for the 2020 Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation First Photobook Award.
Order on Jiazazhi
No Drama Calendar, various artists
Fancy a beautiful calendar that also supports a good cause? The No Drama 2022 Calendar features the works of Cao Mengwen, Leo Xander Foo, and other queer photographers. Profits from the sales will go to charities of the artists’ choices, such as the Red Canary Song, an organization in New York that rallies for the rights of migrant and Asian sex workers.
Order on No Drama
Homeland, Fujian lifestyle magazine
Jokingly referred to as a "third-tier" city, Fuzhou might be the most under-rated provincial capital in China. Homeland, a Chinese-language magazine founded in 2005 and funded by Fuzhou Daily, taps deep into the untold stories about Fujianese cultures, Fuzhou urban issues, and the region’s diverse communities. By focusing on the hyperlocal, the magazine achieves universal values and is well received by readers from all across the country. By the way, the issues always come with beautiful photography and design.
Order on Weidian
“Ocean Frame”, by Feng Li
Feng Li might be the hottest photographer to follow in China these days. His images are funny, uncanny, and tell their own stories. His latest book, “Ocean Frame”, comprises images he created during an L.Library residency in Aranya, China’s new tourist hotspot in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province. The book just came out on pre-sale in China, and international readers can send an email to chocolily621@gmail.com to purchase it.
Order on Weidian
Far & Near Newsletter
Ok, a shameless promotion here. Liked our work this year? Buy yourself an annual subscription to Far & Near or gift it to a friend. All proceeds will go to supporting our next ski trip to Switzerland.
Just kidding. They will go back to the production of this newsletter, including regular roundups of our favorite visual projects from China, and interviews with Chinese photographers and filmmakers. We appreciate your support!
Who we are:
Yan Cong is taking a break from photojournalism and pursuing a research MA in new media and digital culture in Amsterdam while keeping her ties with the photojournalism and documentary community back home through this newsletter.
Beimeng Fu is a video journalist based between Beijing and Shanghai. She is a lover of language and documentaries.
Ye Charlotte Ming is a journalist and photo editor covering stories about culture, history, and identity. She’s based in Berlin and working on a book about her hometown’s German colonial past.
Writers: Beimeng Fu, Ye Charlotte Ming, and Yan Cong