AnalysisontheFormationandDevelopmentofConceptualPhotography

康偉倫

Thedefinitionofacertainthingorphenomenonhasalwaysbeendifferentanddifferentopinions.Thedefinitionofconceptualphotographyisnoexception.Beforetheconceptphotography，thereweremanysimilarreferences，suchaspioneerphotography，newphotography，avant-gardephotography，experimentalphotography，conceptualphotographyandsoon.Inthesenaming，thetermconceptualphotographyseemstohavebeencustomaryandrecognizedbyartistsengagedinimagecreation.

AmericanphotographyhistoryexpertNaomiRosenbromsaidinthethirdbook"AworldHistoryofPhotography"publishedin1997thatConceptualPhotographyisanewartmedium，essentiallyTheemotionalexpressionoftheartworkispresentedinaserializedform.Thiskindofpresentationisdifferentfromordinarynewsphotographyandcommercialadvertisingphotography，andmoreemphasisisplacedonhowtherealworldintheartist&apos；sheartisconstructedbasedontheprincipleofthecameraitself.Inprinciple，conceptualphotographyisnotlimitedbyanyphotographictechnology，andanylens，chemical，andotherequipmentcanpresentvisualimages.Conceptualphotographyisrarelyrelatedtotherealworldofreality，negatingthephotographictheoryofBresson&apos；s“decisivemoment”.In1992，theAmericanICPPhotographyEncyclopedia，translatedandpublishedbyChinaPhotographicPublishingHouse，introducedtheconceptofonceptualPhotographyinamorecompleteway.ThebooktranslatedonceptualPhotographyas"conceptphotography"，whichoriginatedinthe1960s.Theconceptualistmovementinpainting，literally，canalsobecalled“metaphotography”orpostphotography，whichusesphotographyasameanstoconsciouslyandself-recognize.Thenatureofitself.Itssubjectmatteristhe“self-named”andthevariabilityofphotographyitself，thebasisofphotographicrhetoric.Theabilitytohighlightaphenomenon；thecorrectimitationofaworkofclearfocus，continuoustone；thecontradictionofthetense，theappearanceofanimagethathasoccurred，optically，theresultingimageHasobviousrationalityandothercharacteristics.Inaddition，italsoquotesdomesticZhuQi（"TheEyesofStrangers-AReviewofChineseAvant-GardePhotography"，1997），LiuShuyong（"ISee"ConceptualPhotography"andRelatedControversy，1997），Xiaobao"ConceptPhotographyinChina，1998），XiaochunChun（"ThePowerofPhotography"，2002），ZhangLi，LinLu（"TheConceptofConceptualPhotographyandPhotography"，2006），andtheviewsofscholarssuchasLiuWeiandQiuZhijie.Acarefulreadingwillrevealthattheauthor&apos；senumerationisnotsomuchadefinitionofconceptualphotographyasitisamulti-facetedunderstandingofthemeaningofconceptualphotographyfromdifferentperspectivesofdifferentwaysofcreation，expression，andmediause.Althoughtheseunderstandingscannotbecountedasstrictlydefined，ifweclassifythesedifferentunderstandingsfromtheperspectivesofpurpose，meansofimplementation，form，etc.，willithelptobettergrasptheconnotationofconceptualphotographyandthusextractaMoreprecisedefinition？

Thesedifferentunderstandingsofconceptualphotographyhaveconstructedageneraloutlineofconceptualphotographyforus，andcanalsoleadustotrytodefinetheconceptofconceptualphotography：conceptualphotographyisanewtypeofartthatisdifferentfromtraditionalart.

Fromtheperspectiveofthemajorschoolsofphotography，conceptualphotographydoesnotbelongtoacertaingenreofphotography，butmanyworksinthegenreofphotographycanbeclassifiedintoconceptualphotography，suchassurrealistphotographyandexpressionistphotography.，abstractphotography，andevendocumentaryphotography.Thepaintingsandimpressionistsinearlyphotographycanberegardedasconceptualphotography，butbecausethesetwoschoolspaymoreattentiontotheartisticsenseofexternalformofimages，theexpressionofideasisnotclearenoughandthorough.InthelaterDadaphotography，Insurrealistphotography，abstractphotographyandsubjectivismphotography，theexpressionofideashasgreatlyemphasizedtheexpressionofsubjectiveconsciousnessofphotographers&apos；ideas，personalitiesandinneractivities.Itcanbesaidtobeatypicalrepresentativeofconceptualphotography.TheemergenceofconceptualphotographyhasgivenanewlanguagetothenarrativeofChinesecontemporaryculture.Conceptualphotographyisextremelyinclusive，andthisinclusivenessmakesitpossibleforeveryonetoparticipateincontemporaryculturefromtheirownperspective.

Finally，conceptualphotographyisnotonlyanextensionofconceptualartfromaconceptualpointofview，butalsoanextensionofcontemporaryartfromtheperspectiveofcreativeformsandmeans.Becausedigitaltechnologyprovidesanunprecedentedmeansofaccesstoimages，thishasmadethestatusofimagesincontemporaryartcreationunprecedented.Accordingtoourdefinitionofconceptualphotography，anyconceptualartworksrelatedtoimagescanbeincorporatedintothewingsofconceptualphotography.Then，therewillbemoreandmorecontemporaryartandconceptualphotographywiththeexpansionandextensionofmediaasdistinctivefeatures.Intersection.Fromanotherangle，wecanalsosaythattheemergenceanddevelopmentofconceptualphotographyisapowerfulboosterforthedevelopmentofcontemporaryart.

（作者單位：齊魯工業大學藝術設計學院）