"For nearly 30 years Lois Conner has been traveling to China to photograph the juxtaposition of contemporary architecture, including the National Stadium "Bird's Nest" in Beijing by Herzog & de Meuron against the ancient ruins from the Gardens of PerfectBrightness. The book uses images and text, ideas and sensibility to reflect and meditate on the rising power of China in the world context and in the context of China's history and cultural landscape. Beijing: Contemporary and Imperial reflects the unique photographic vision of Lois Conner (on the transformation of Beijing) and it is extended by the structure of ideas developed by Geremie R. Barme's traveling exhibition of these photographs organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art, opening in the Spring of 2014 will continue on to additional venues, to be confirmed. Lois Conner is a Guggenheim Fellow, and is included in major museums in Australia, Great Britain and throughout the US, among them are MoMA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Getty Museum, and SFMoMA. She has taught photography for over 20 years at Yale University, Princeton University, Stanford University, Sarah Lawrence College and is currently teaching at Bard College. Geremie R. Barme's the author of several books on Chinese history, including Shades of Mao, and In the Red: On Contemporary Chinese Culture, along with contributing essays in several publications for gallery publications on Lois Conner"--