Chinese Gov't Says No to 'Pees on Earth'
by Rachel Deahl, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 2/9/2006
Though you may able to sympathize with photographer Ellen Jong who, after facing a tortuously long bathroom line at a New York nightclub ran outside to relieve herself on Canal Street, the Chinese government cannot. Jong, a photographer whose work has appeared in magazines like Vogue and InStyle, was struck by the unforeseen beauty and freedom of the act and was inspired to pick up her camera. The results are displayed in Pees on Earth, an art book scheduled for April that isa collection of photos capturing Jong urinating in urban and rural locales, leading her everywhere from Miami to Shanghai.
The book, which is published by Rosen Editions, an imprint of the indie Powerhouse Books, ran into a hitch when it was shipped to the company's Chinese printer, Pimlico. According to publisher, Sara Rosen, blueprints for the book were seized by Chinese customs and the work was deemed too vulgar to be printed within the country. Pimlico was able to bump the job to its Hong Kong operation, since the island doesn't have the same embargo issues as mainland China.
While the book won't be compromised by the hiccup—the 3,000-copy first printing will simply arrive in the US a few weeks later than planned—Rosen said she and Jong were still shocked by the bottleneck. "We never had any political intent with this work," Rosen said, noting that none of the photos are pornographic. Rosen said she assumes that the title, coupled with the obvious idea behind the images (which she describes as abstract and not voyeuristic, noting that there are "no money shots"), was enough to stop the book at the border.|
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