Is conceptual photography still photography? Thank you, God, can you help me?

Conceptual photography and the concept of photography. Conceptual photography is nothing new. It has been taking shape since the day photography was born and countless photographers have explored its mysteries. However, there was no comparison in the early days. It’s just a clear genre, and the truth advocates simplicity. Long before photography, conceptual art has been explored in the hands of countless artists for hundreds or even thousands of years. The emergence of photography only added a medium and a method to conceptual art. I don’t want to list examples from the history of Western photography here to avoid being accused of following the West’s lead. In fact, in the mid-1980s when China was reforming and opening up, some insightful young talents worked hard to explore conceptual photography. However, the climate at that time did not have a relatively relaxed atmosphere, and these explorations could only become A swan song in the history of modern photography in China. As Chinese photography enters the 21st century, conceptual photography has new room for development. I think it is about time. First of all, we must clarify a question: can photography express ideas? In fact, photography has never been inconsistent with the expression of concepts. This is not what Mr. Li Shaobai said in the article, "No matter how much subjective processing there is in artistic photography, it still cannot express concepts well." Because as a rational concept, it is difficult to express it completely and accurately no matter what kind of media is used. Even in words, how many concepts are clearly expressed in Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit" is still a mystery to this day. puzzle. Otherwise, why would so many later philosophers have repeatedly interpreted this work? Therefore, the expression of concepts is interesting in the process of continuous improvement and discussion, rather than relying on one or several media to convey clearly. Often, the more difficult the concept, the more diverse and complex the space, the more media are needed for comprehensive interpretation, so that it can gradually move towards a higher realm in the course of human thought. The intervention of photography into conceptual art is also one of them. The next question is, how many concepts can photography express, and what depth and breadth can it achieve? In fact, the expression space of photography has always been inseparable from the intervention of concepts, but some are deeper and some are shallower, some have a single point, and some have more complex images. For example, when shooting a landscape, some photographers will shoot whatever they see, while others will take a unique approach and find an early morning or dusk to wait for a light and shadow pattern that others ignore to complete a beautiful picture. The picture actually expresses a concept, an idea - but such a relatively elegant concept or concept is easy to be accepted by others, and then it is easy to be imitated, and the result will soon be disappointing. As I said before, the outstandingly independent "f/64 Group" with Adams and others as its core was a group that pursued the ultimate goal of photography - objective documentary, rather than landscape photographers who only pursued light, shadow, form and color. These creators, named after "Pure Photography" or "Direct Photography", try to use the physical and chemical functions of the camera to accurately display the charm of nature in as many details as possible, thereby conveying their awe of nature - this is " "Concept" drives everything. As for conceptual photography in the true sense, it does not mean expressing a complete concept through photography, for the reasons mentioned above. The meaning of conceptual photography lies in the certain concepts conveyed through photography. It is an exploration process that gets rid of shallow meaningless entanglements. It attempts to show the analysis of human living conditions through the medium of photography and propose some meaningful ideas. Topics can trigger more and deeper thinking. Therefore, conceptual photography often does not give one answer, but points to multiple possibilities, allowing the audience to realize it on their own. From the perspective of accepting aesthetics, this also meets aesthetic needs. If a photo or a group of photos makes everything clear, the audience's participation will become an empty talk, and the artistic charm of the photo will be gone. Ling Fei's explanation for his work is only a possibility. If the audience can read more and different meanings, this is the success of photography. If you are "confused", you might as well give more room for understanding. This will do more good than harm to the progress of photography. In other words, for many viewers, it is more interesting than an unobstructed picture! In the history of modern art, there are often thirty levels of understanding of art: high art, avant-garde art and camp. Susan Sontag pointed out: High art is basically about morality; avant-garde art explores the tension between beauty and morality through extreme love; the third type of art, "Camp", is entirely about aesthetic feeling, that is: Style is above content, aesthetics is above morality, and irony is above tragedy. "Camp" bypasses rational judgment and chooses games. What is prevalent in today’s photography world is “camp”, a state of “game”. Seeking stability, seeking familiarity, seeking repetition, and following the custom, so as to find a certain sense of security in modern people's ontology. However, this is often an irresponsible attitude and is detrimental to the development of photographic art. Going a step further, modern art has entered the 21st century and it can no longer decipher its various phenomena solely through visual art. The integration and combination of photography with fine arts, installations, performance and other multimedia are constantly marginalized and have become a major trend in the development of art throughout the world. You can enjoy a world-famous two-dimensional photograph with stunning light and shadow, but there is no reason to ignore the general trend of artistic development.

From the beginning of the 20th century when Surrealism put practical objects of life into the picture, to the widespread use of pop art in the 1960s, vision is only one of the bridges, and there are already many such bridges, striving to guide the audience to the way of thinking. the other side. How beautiful a bridge itself is is no longer the main purpose. Being able to connect the way of thinking on the other side to achieve the overall effect of the work is the ultimate goal.

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