Two Places on Earth

Publisher's Description

Two Places on Earth is a collection of 54 color photographs taken by American artist Chan Chao over a five-year period beginning in the early 2000s. The volume features two seemingly unrelated populations: UN peacekeepers in Cyprus and female prisoners in Peru. Both groups are multinational, representing 15 countries, and most of the subjects are young adults whose lives “have been shaped by global forces and personal choices,” according to the artist. Chao’s work is restrained, showing a deep respect for the dignity and individualism of each person. He juxtaposes the two groups, who are unknown to each other but who share the commonality of being global citizens who are away from home. The soldiers guard a 111-mile buffer zone in Cyprus, dividing ethnic Greeks (Greek Cypriots) to the south and ethnic Turks (Turkish Cypriots) to the north; and the women serve prison sentences in Santa Monica Women’s Prison for attempting to smuggle cocaine out of Peru. Their respective labels fall away as the viewer examines the portraits, each a finely detailed record of the subject’s expression, body language, and humanity.

Chan Chao was born in 1966 in Kalemyo, Burma (now Myanmar). His family moved to the United States in 1978. He attended the University of Maryland, College Park, and now lives in the Washington, D.C. area. Chao’s photographs are in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; LA County Museum of Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Two Places on Earth is his fourth book. Two Places on Earth is printed in a first edition of 500 casebound copies, each with an original print tipped-in to the front cover. The book opens with an introduction by Kim Sajet, Director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.