Let's walk into this colorful world of light and shadow-this is the charming photography art.

First, what is the art of photography?

As early as 1839, Daguerre, a Frenchman, published his "silver plate photography method", which marked the formal birth of photography technology. At that time, photography was mainly used to shoot still life and portraits, not to mention artistry; By photography, we mean the art of using certain materials and technical means (camera, film, darkroom technology, etc.). ) Take photos with aesthetic value to reflect life and express emotions.

Photography plays an important role in our daily life, especially in the development of military and cultural work. Ok, let's take a look at what kinds of photographs we usually see, and then examine the uniqueness of photography relative to other art categories through them:

Second, the types and characteristics of photography art

1, the type of photography

Different standards will bring different classification methods.

Photosensitive materials can be divided into black-and-white photography and color photography.

From the method of expression, it can be divided into: ● Portrait photography (such as the famous Hong Kong photographer Lang Jingshan), realistic photography (such as the famous American photographer Adams), abstract photography and trick photography. Photography is divided into various schools because of its different expressive methods. )

From the subject content, it can be divided into figure photography, landscape photography, still life photography, stage photography, sports photography, news photography and so on (this is the most common classification in daily life).

By observing and comparing these photos, it can be clearly seen that they are different from other art categories.

2. The characteristics of photography art

Every photo we take is a realistic representation of the real scene, which is the first feature of photography.

(1) ▲ Authenticity

Authenticity is the most basic feature of photography. It can instantly "photograph" every scene in the real world, and the lens has the function of "mirror" to a certain extent, which can absorb the real world and reproduce it realistically. Therefore, photos can be used as a "memorial" of the last relationship, a record of major historical events, and evidence of "taking them to court", all because of their inherent real characteristics. (1963 Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping were in the Summer Palace Lv Houmin) (Corner of the earthquake zone ● 1976 Tang Shan Li Yaodong) Although there are some "surreal" stunts in photography, every object in the photo should be real (not fictional). Capturing is especially advocated in photography to highlight its authenticity.

We also noticed that the photo taken is not a process in life, but only a moment, which is the second feature of photography:

(2) ▲ Instantaneity

If we want to express a "process" by photography, we can only intercept representative moments to complete it. This is the difference between photography, film and television, and video recording. So photography is called "the art of instant". Painting and sculpture in art also express moments, but their moments can be fabricated by painters according to their own understanding of life. The moment of photography has a strong sense of documentary. (● Comparison between painting and photography on flood control theme)

(3) the combination of science and art

From the beginning, the invention of photography originated from the scientific discovery of pinhole imaging. Photography must also rely on certain "equipment", such as camera, film, magnifying glass, washing liquid and so on. The development of photography and photographic equipment complement each other and are closely related. Cameras used to take pictures, from the original "black box" form, to simple ● fully manual cameras, and then to modern fully automatic electronic cameras and digital cameras. 100 years of photographic history came through the metronome of scientific and technological progress. Photography is a typical example of the perfect combination of science and art.

Then, when we use more and more advanced cameras to shoot landscapes, portraits and life, we should pay more and more attention to "artistry". What aspects should we start with to see the "artistry" of a photo? Let's talk about it below:

Third, the elements of photography art appreciation

Art is to create images, and photography is no exception. ▲ Literature shapes images with language, while music shapes images with melody and rhythm. ▲ What does photography use to shape the image? It is done through composition, lighting, tone and color. These are all modeling factors of photography.

1, ▲ modeling factors

(1)▲ composition

▲ Photographic composition is the overall layout of photographic pictures. Composition is the organic arrangement of multiple photographic objects in a picture to form a certain modeling form. The success or failure of a composition mainly depends on whether it is conducive to the expression of the theme. To do this, we must deal with the following three aspects:

▲ The relationship between taking and giving: art is the art of addition, and photography is the art of subtraction. Photographers should always consider which people and things in the real scene are excluded from the landscape frame. ▲ Different choices according to the needs of the theme will bring different effects. ● (Part I and Part II of the Military Parade Village) The former is a common composition method, which mainly shows the neatness and unity of soldiers; The latter boldly abandoned most of the characters, but especially highlighted the image of the bayonet, showing the indomitable spirit of the soldiers, and the use of "subtraction" also made the composition more novel. Let's look at another familiar photo: ● "Class". This photo named "Girl with Big Eyes" is the most famous work in Jie Hailong's Hope Project series. The children's thirst for knowledge is the main theme of the author, so when composing the composition, half of the characters' heads are also "cruelly" cut off, and the expressions of the characters are more prominent; In addition, the author uses the role of light and shadow to hide minor things in the shadow. Therefore, the composition of photography should be: ▲ highlight the main things, keep the secondary things, and eliminate the useless things.

Photographic composition should be handled well:

▲ The relationship between subject and companion.

The so-called ▲ subject is the main object to express the theme and emotion of the work and the center of composition. ▲ Companion is an object that sets off the subject in the picture, forms a certain plot with the subject, and helps to express the connotation and characteristics of the subject. Please look at the work ● "Fight the Landlord".

The treatment of the subject should be "prominent". There are many ways to highlight the subject, and the most direct and effective way is to put the subject on the "golden section" ●: If a rectangular picture frame is divided into nine parts, the four intersections here are about the golden section. These four lines are the golden section, and the objects on these four points or lines not only look balanced and beautiful, but also attract the attention of the viewer.

There is only one sentence about the treatment of escort: ▲ It is necessary to effectively foil the subject and not usurp the role of the master.

Please analyze the subject and companion in these two photos, and the disposal methods of the subject and companion. ● "State affairs, family affairs ..." and "Five Love Words".

Photographic composition should also deal with the relationship between foreground and background.

▲ The scene in front of the subject is called foreground. Illustration: ● "Oujiang Boat Song": Add some branches to the upper part of the picture to make the photo two-dimensional ▲ Add a sense of space that is far and near, and the audience's line of sight can easily slide to the main body along the foreground, and at the same time fill the blank in the sky in composition. The setting of the harvest season foreground forms a "frame composition", which highlights the main body in the frame. ● "Farewell to the Martyrs Fighting the Flood": The foreground explains the cause of the protagonist's grief. It can be seen that the foreground can play the following roles: First, it can increase the sense of depth and space of the picture. The second is to highlight the main body. The third is to express the content related to the theme.

▲ The scene behind the main body is called the background. Example: ● "The mighty teacher" and "Visiting relatives". ▲ The role of background: contrast and deepen the theme. Express the content related to the theme.

The above is the common sense of photographic composition. The second important modeling factor in photography is light.

(2) The light is used up

We know that film can't be sensitized without light, let alone photographed. But "using light" in photography not only refers to using light as a lighting method, but also refers to using "light" as a modeling factor to better express the subject and express the theme.

This is the light bitmap of ordinary light.

The "light" in photography can be divided into the following types according to the projection direction of light: front light ●, side light, backlight, top light, foot light and so on. . These kinds of light have obvious directionality, and the light without directionality is called scattered light; Sunlight on cloudy days is scattered light.

These methods of using light have their own characteristics. Among them, the most commonly used are front light, side light and backlight. (Light Bitmap) Let's analyze the modeling characteristics and shooting methods of these light bits with examples.

▲● Front light: Also called front light, the direction of light is basically the same as the direction of the camera optical axis. Suitable for expressing bright, pure, delicate and smooth emotions. (Photo of female soldier)

▲● Side light: The light direction forms a 90-degree angle with the camera optical axis direction. Can enhance the texture and three-dimensional sense of the main body itself. ("China Men" and other photos)

▲● Backlight: It can clearly outline the outline of the object and show the details of the subject, with a strong sense of space.

Other modeling factors of photography include:

(3)▲ Tone

The "hue" often mentioned in photography generally refers to the changes of black, white, gray and light and dark levels in black and white photography. Master photographer Adams once divided all density changes in nature into 0- 10. Photographers can control the tone level more accurately by taking pictures and developing.

It is difficult for photography to fully show the eleven density levels from 0 to 10 in nature, and often only part of them can be restored. If the overall density of a photo is mainly white and light gray, with less dark gray and black components, such a photo is called "▲● high-profile". If the overall density of a photo is mainly black and dark gray, and there are few components of light gray and white, such a photo is called "▲● low-key". In other words, the overall density is called "high-profile" photos, the overall density is called "low-profile" photos, and the photos in between are "▲● middle-tone" photos.

In addition, if a photo has more gray components and less black and white components, it is called "soft tone" or "soft tone" photo. There are few gray components, strong transition between black and white, and few intermediate levels. We call it a "▲● hard tone" photo.

For black-and-white photography, we mainly focus on hue, while for color photography, we mainly focus on color:

(4)▲ Color

Different colors give people different feelings, for example, red gives people warmth, enthusiasm and tension; Blue brings coolness, calmness and tranquility. In order to express the needs of the theme, photographers often set a unified tone for their works, that is, the tone of color. Color tones can be divided into ▲● cool tones, ▲● warm tones and intermediate tones.

These are the basic modeling factors of photography. In photography, being good at using some techniques and techniques is also the key to success.

(4)▲ Technical skills

Nature and society are constantly flowing and changing, and photography can only capture a picture at a certain moment and present it to readers, giving people a sense of beauty. To make the picture wonderful, we should also pay attention to the following shooting skills:

(5)▲ Instantly

● "Drive the ducks home". Once, American photographer McMahon saw a boy driving several white ducks across a wooden bridge, and the rural interest attracted him, so he took some pictures conveniently. When I developed it, I found that the photos I took were somewhat inadequate. In contrast, only the third one is ideal, so the photographer chose this lens. This film gives us an inspiration: ▲ In a developing and ongoing event, there is only one best shot (that is, the best moment). Grasping the moment is the best time to press the shutter.

What moments in life are most worth pressing the shutter? Let's look at it with examples:

● "Unknown Station". In a winter, the back of a soldier, a distant car, especially a child's face emerged from the broken window glass ... without any language, the photo seemed to tell a story and arouse our association. Maybe every audience's imagination can't be exactly the same, but in any case, the scene of leaving the station deeply touched us. The connotation of the moment is completed by the imagination of the audience. ▲ This "plot moment" that conveys the relationship between objects is worth grasping.

● "Flying cars". This "dynamic moment" with subjective attitude as the main content is the third moment worth grasping.

● "In the marriage registry". The photo reflects the scene that women can finally get married independently soon after the liberation of China. The young woman of this ethnic minority came to the marriage registration office to register her marriage. ▲ The sweet and shy expression of the characters is very typical, which is the key to winning this photo. This typical meaningful expression is also worth grasping in an instant.

To better grasp all kinds of moments, we should follow the photographer's high cultivation, agile thinking, careful observation, skilled skills, correct methods and advanced equipment.

(6)▲ Angle

For the same subject, the change of camera shooting angle will greatly change our aesthetic feeling, so angle is also an important skill to enrich our image expression. Angle can be divided into

▲● Face up to the angle

Horizontal angle of reverse viewing angle

Side view angle

Head-up angle

Bottom viewing angle vertical viewing angle

Overlooking angle

In many cases, the combination of horizontal angle and vertical angle can produce richer angular variation.

(7)▲ Atmosphere

▲ The so-called atmosphere refers to the mood and atmosphere of photographic works in a specific environment. It is an important means to make photographic works produce "artistic conception". The creation of this atmosphere sometimes depends on the things themselves, such as Ma Benteng, rainstorm, sunset, tranquility and elegance. (● "Flying Yuan Ye" was shot by Li Xiaoning) ▲ Sometimes it depends on visual elements such as colors, light and shadow: for example, the reflection of the water surface forms a colorful artistic conception (● "Swimming in the water" was shot by the border); The deep and distant artistic conception caused by the shadow of side light and backlight, and so on.

To analyze the atmosphere of a photographic work, we must first see whether it captures the true feelings of the characters or the true state of things; The second is to analyze whether the environment and background caused by the picture can set off and contrast the main body well; The third is to see whether the use of light and shooting angle are appropriate, and whether the characters and the environment are harmonious and unified.

First, other technical skills of photography

▲ Dynamic:

Refers to the posture, speed and strength of a moving object. There are two main types: first, the best moment in the process of object motion shot with high-speed shutter, with clear picture influence ●; Second, the shutter speed is appropriate, and the dynamic effect of the combination of reality and reality appears in the picture. The former mainly shows the posture of the moving body, while the latter mainly shows the speed of the moving body.

▲● Hazy: Sometimes "virtual" is more artistic than "real". Make the image have a dreamlike hazy effect and be more expressive. Hazy is by no means out of focus. It is accomplished by adding a soft-focus lens, a magic lens, or focusing twice, and painting vaseline on the lens under normal focusing conditions. The work Autumn Wind was created by smearing vaseline oil on the lens.

▲● Texture: Photography can express the delicate texture of the object through close-ups or close-ups: the texture on the surface of wood, the reflection on the surface of steel, and the sweat pores on the surface of skin, all of which can be vividly expressed under the lens, from which we can clearly observe the original material of the subject. This is the expression of texture in photography. The texture of steel in Soul of the Sea is also a symbol of strength.

▲4. Expression method

Because photographers have different life experiences and world views, they will have different creative ideas. In their whole works, there are often different creative methods. For example, there are realism and romanticism in the art field, and there are many photography schools in the photography field. Such as realistic photography, abstract photography, photo photography and so on. Different schools may follow different expressions. The abstract photography "Self-portrait of Kyle Bing" was shot by four exposures. Yu (photo by Chen Fuli) has a strong style of Chinese painting.

▲5. Theme

The ultimate goal of creation is for photographers to express their themes through aesthetic creation. If a painting doesn't express any thoughts or feelings, it can't be regarded as a work of art.

Soviet critic Walltin's said:

▲ "If a photo only reflects the role of the camera without the author's own thoughts and feelings, then it has nothing to see.

We believe that photography should be a form of artistic creation, which means that we can not only see the recorded fragments of real life, but also see the photographer's understanding of real life. "

This "understanding of real life ●" is the theme of a photographic work.

Rice and barnyard grass ●: The author borrows two plants from nature to express his views on two kinds of people in life: praising people who are down-to-earth, modest and steady; Criticized those who are arrogant and empty-bellied.

Of course, we can also understand the photographer's expression and theme by analyzing many excellent works. I hope you can read more works and do more analysis.