A visual and intellectual portrait of the early 21st century.

A 700-page publication featuring 100+ internationally renowned photographers and leading scholars examining climate, conflict, migration, race, technology, and global transformation.

Publishing September 2026

Pre-Order Act One
 

Themes.

The publication is organized around the defining forces shaping contemporary life in the 21st century, bringing together a wide range of interconnected themes that examine the social, political, cultural, and environmental realities defining our time.

 
 

  1. Environment & Climate Change

  2. Public Health

  3. Human Rights

  4. Deindustrialization

  5. The American Democracy

  6. Race in America

  7. War & Conflict

  8. Globalization & Geopolitics

  9. Technology

 
 

Chapters.

Organized as a series of thematic chapters, the book moves between critical reflection and lived experience. Each chapter begins with an essay by a leading thinker, followed by photographic works that trace individual lives, places, and events shaped by the larger forces defining the 21st century. Together, the chapters create a portrait of the contemporary world through both intellectual inquiry and visual storytelling.

 
 

  1. Anthropocene Rising

  2. The Body Public

  3. The Right to Dignity

  4. American Rust

  5. The State of the Union

  6. The Fire This Time

  7. When The Fog Lifts

  8. Tides that Bind

  9. The Digital Rubicon

 

Inside the Book

A page from a magazine or journal with article headlines and text about geosciences, climate history, and planetary resilience, with large bold titles and smaller columns of text.
Aerial view of Greenland's ice sheet showing crevasses, melting, and meltwater streams in shades of blue and white.
Satellite view of a Gulf of Mexico oil spill featuring swirling patterns of orange, red, and blue, caused by an offshore oil platform spill.
Two black-and-white scientific images of particulate matter: the left shows an ash particle from the Woolsey fire, resembling a complex, porous structure; the right depicts an iron particle coated with coal combustion residue, sphere-shaped with nume
Page from a publication with large, bold text on the left side reading "THE BODY PUBLIC" and "BODY PUBLIC" with the subtitle "LIVES ON THE MARGINS GUNS & THEIR WAKE." The main section contains a block of text discussing Dr. Joia Mukherjee, an ancient
Black and white photograph of Times Square in New York City, showing tall buildings with digital billboards, a few pedestrians, and empty streets with some traffic signals and street signs.
A masked street dweller walking through central São Paulo toward a Franciscan-run reformatory, surrounded by people on the street during the COVID-19 pandemic, with graffiti on a wall in the background.
Cemetery workers bury a person who died of COVID-19 at Vila Formosa Cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2021.
Black and white photo of the American flag reflecting over a cityscape of skyscrapers in Los Angeles, California, 2015.
A man lying on the street after using fentanyl in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. Smoke rises from a sewer grate nearby, with trash and water bottles scattered around. The man appears to be resting or unconscious.
Page from a book or document featuring the title 'THE RIGHT TO DIGNITY' and text discussing the impact of wars, human rights, and global conflicts, with prominent words like 'EQUALITY,' 'FREEDOM,' 'SILENCE,' and 'SILENCE' in large, bold letters.
Two photographs of women with accompanying personal stories and reflections. The left photo shows two young women, one with short dark hair and the other with curly blond hair, embracing each other softly. The right photo shows a woman with a short b
Police officers on horseback during a protest in Los Angeles, California in 2025, dispersing protesters at a 'No Kings' rally.
Close-up of an African American woman's face with braided hair, a nose piercing, and minimal makeup, shown from the shoulders up against a plain background.
Group of African asylum seekers standing in a line with arms crossed over their chests, waiting for food aboard a Spanish rescue vessel in the Mediterranean Sea near Libya, 2017.
Page of a magazine or book with the large title 'AMERICAN RUST' written vertically on the left side, a subheading, and columns of text. The author’s name, Dr. Lizbeth Cohen, is at the top.
Two black and white portraits of individuals. The left image shows an elderly woman with long hair, wearing a white shirt, against a plain background with the moon visible. The right image features a young man with short curly hair, wearing a jacket,
An abandoned building with rusted metal walls and a moss-covered brick floor, a partially open door revealing an interior.
A woman with long, curly hair wearing a cream-colored floral blouse standing against a textured blue brick wall.
Close-up of a page from a newspaper or magazine with large and small text, including headlines and body paragraphs, on the topic of American politics and history.
Black and white photo of three men standing outdoors on a rural road, with trees and open fields in the background. The caption indicates they are President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld outside his ranch in Crawford, Texas,
Sergeant first class John Davis, a two-term Iraq veteran, with his two coaches and a youth baseball team for soldiers' children at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2006, during the duty's army among soldiers. The other image shows a crowd at the Lincoln Memorial
A collage of people protesting during Occupy Wall Street, including an elderly woman, a young girl with a flower headband, a person with face paint, and a man with a serious expression, with large text saying "OCCUPY WALL STREET" above.
Black and white photograph of President Barack Obama walking along the colonnade of the White House, with trees in the background and sunlight shining through, captured in 2012.
Close-up of Hillary Clinton's face with blue eyes and red lipstick, with a background of American flags, during her tenure as U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.
Protesters at a MAGA rally holding signs, including one with a picture of Donald Trump. The crowd is engaged, with some people taking pictures or videos.
Page layout with large, bold text on the left side and paragraph of text on the right side. The large text reads 'THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN RACE'.
A magazine spread featuring a large photo of Colin Kaepernick on the right, with half of his face in view, and a block of text on the left about the Black Lives Matter movement. The headline at the top reads 'LIVES MATTER' in large, bold letters.
Close-up of a woman's face with braided hair and a pink flower crown, and a person holding six bullets in their hand, against a sidewalk background.
Photo of a Minneapolis police sergeant named Andrew Schroeder patrols in a vehicle during daytime, with a woman walking past a bus stop and a fence with vertical bars in the background.
Protesters holding a wooden sign that reads 'Black Lives Matter' and a long paper with handwritten names and dates, with a single red rose placed on the paper. The scene appears to be at a public demonstration or protest.
Page from a magazine featuring a large bold headline titled 'WHEN THE FOG LIFTS,' followed by smaller headlines and text discussing geopolitical conflicts, wars, and history, including references to Iraq, Afghanistan, Cold War, and the 21st century.
Black and white photograph of U.S. Chinook helicopters on the moon's surface during lunar operations in Afghanistan in 2005, with soldiers in the foreground and a smoky sky in the background.
Black and white photo of three young men standing on a concrete barrier in an open area, possibly during an outdoor event or protest. Two of them are holding strings attached to kites, with the sky and some clouds in the background.
Black and white photograph of a military scene with a soldier in camouflage gear on the left and a destroyed helicopter on the right, with smoke and a cloudy sky in the background.
Marines on patrol in a desert landscape in Helmand, Afghanistan, with a planted bomb in the road
U.S. soldiers drag the body of a suspected Iraqi fighter during combat operations near Baghdad.
A collage of four photographs depicting scenes from military and conflict zones. The top left shows U.S. soldiers firing mortars from an outpost in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The top right features a man, identified as Ahmed Shah Massoud, behind
Page from a book or magazine with large bold text on the left reading "THE END OF THE AGE" and smaller text below it. The right side contains multiple columns of densely packed, smaller printed text.
A protester gestures as he turns his back to a flaming barricade and riot police lines in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 2014.
Page from a book or magazine with a large photograph of Vladimir Putin's face on the right side and text on the left side. The text discusses the concentration of power in the hands of nation-state leaders, with Putin described as President of Russia
Photographs of Donald Trump and Barack Obama, with labels describing their terms as Presidents of the United States.
Comparison of two U.S. Presidents: George W. Bush on the left in a black-and-white photo, and Tony Blair on the right in a color photo. Bush is smiling and wearing a checkered suit, while Blair has a serious expression with a dark background.
Side-by-side portraits of Angela Merkel, former Chancellor of Germany, and Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, with their names and titles beneath their images.
Aerial view of a densely populated city landscape with numerous high-rise buildings and infrastructure, under a hazy sky.
A page from a book or magazine discussing the history and impact of digital revolution and technology, with large vertical text on the left side reading 'THE FUTURE OF THE DIGITAL AGE' and a column of smaller text on the right.
A data center with rows of server racks illuminated by blue lights, connected by numerous cables.
Close-up of a young man's face with short, curly brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles, on an open book page with text.
Side-by-side comparison of two men's faces before and after hair restoration. The first man is bald, and the second man has a full head of styled hair.
A portrait of Edward Snowden holding an American flag, with glasses and a serious expression, against a plain background.

Pre-Orders Available Summer 2026

Join the List

receive publication updates, exhibition announcements, early access, and contributor news