Bookshelf: Stefen Chow, Photographer and Founder of Beijing Creatives
The book on my shelf with the most sentimental value is The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich. It is a comprehensive book on art history and how everything is interrelated. It was recommended by my mentor, and has become a regular must-read for me to understand how art blends and changes over time.
The bookshelf in Beijing I’d most like a peek at is Quentin Shih’s. He’s a photographer I’ve always admired but never got around to knowing. I would love to see his influences and interests outside photography.
If you only ever read one book about photography, make it National Geographic Ultimate Field Guide to Photography. It was the first photography book I read and memorized.
The book I pretend to have read, but haven’t really is When a Billion Chinese Jump by Jonathan Watts.
What’s my bathroom reading? the Beijinger! Loads of them.
Subway reading is anything by Haruki Murakami.
My favorite book from childhood was The BFG by Roald Dahl. I remember the incredible tales that came along with the giants, the good versus the bad, the ears as big as truck tires. What great ingredients for a child’s imagination.
The book I’m saving for old age is Animal Farm by George Orwell.
The book that changed my life is Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, an account of the biggest disaster on Mount Everest in history. It made me realize the best and worst behaviors of humans during moments of crisis, and I was intrigued to climb the mountain myself to experience the journey.
The character in a book I’d most like to be? Let me be Snowy, the dog in The Adventures of Tintin. Talking dogs rock.
The last book I read was Consumptionomics: Asia’s Role in Reshaping Capitalism and Saving the Planet by Chandran Nair, which talks about why we need to curb overconsumption and how it is affecting the environment. It’s a thought-provoking, uncomfortable, but awesome read.
The book I wish I had written is 6 Billion Others, a wonderful photo project from Yann Arthus-Bertrand with many human stories coming together.
My favorite quote from a book: “If you always hire people who are smaller than you are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. If, on the other hand, you always hire people who are bigger than you, we shall become a company of giants.”–Quotations of David Ogilvy
Beijing Creatives holds its next meetup on Dec 8 at Capital M.
This article originally appeared on page 62 of the December issue of the Beijinger.
Click here to see the December issue of the Beijinger in full.
Photo courtesy of Stefen Chow
