How to evaluate the quality of photographic works?

It is often seen that there are endless arguments about the success or failure of a photographic work on the Internet, and even sometimes the so-called "masters" have very different views, which makes beginners indifferent. So I've always wanted to write an article on how to evaluate photographic works. I have read a lot of photography books, but there are too few articles to refer to in this respect, which is still the case after searching online for a long time. Although I haven't been involved in photography for a long time, I have won some awards in provinces, cities and the whole country. Because of my major, I have always felt that most literary and artistic works, whether it is art, calligraphy, photography and other visual arts, have the same aesthetic purpose, so I dare to say my personal opinion.

First, the public's aesthetics is the evaluation standard.

-On the Subjectivity and Objectivity of Appreciation of Artistic Works

Wang Fuzhi, a famous thinker in the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China, said: "The authors have the same thoughts, and the readers are complacent with their feelings." This is about the subjectivity and objectivity of artistic creation and artistic appreciation. Objectivity means that the ideas expressed by the author are unique, while subjectivity means that people can give full play to their initiative in appreciation and evaluate and enrich the objects of appreciation with their own thoughts, opinions and emotions. The same work may have very different or even very different feelings and repercussions in different readers (audiences); And the same reader (audience), with the change of subjective conditions, even in the face of the same work, his feelings and experiences may be very different. Therefore, the subjectivity of appreciation is not only manifested among different readers (audiences), but also in the development of thoughts and feelings, life experiences and mood changes of the same reader (audience).

The objective differences in the appreciation of works of art make some writers who pursue personal style or artists who have certain attainments come to the conclusion that "their songs are lofty and harmonious". They believe that high-level works of art can only be appreciated by a few people, while the working people will only appreciate low-level and rough things. This ideological tendency is also manifested in the evaluation of photographic works from time to time: on the one hand, readers (viewers) do not accept or approve, and even think that even the minimum focus is untrue, underexposed or strange in color, and do not understand what to show; On the other hand, the author insists that "I just want this effect", "You don't know art" and "I just want this effect".

The author believes that in the old society, where members of society received different degrees of cultural and artistic education, the phenomenon of "high music and few people" existed objectively. However, with the gradual decline of academic qualifications, the beauty of the work and its popularity are more and more similar. Some simple, natural and fresh works, such as "clear water gives a hibiscus, carved naturally", are easily loved by everyone, which appeals to both refined and popular tastes. Gorky said: "True beauty, like true wisdom, is very simple and understood by everyone." The works of Qu Gao and Widow are often divorced from the masses in form and skill, too difficult and obscure, and not very artistic, precisely because of the lack of artistry! There is no world-class art that the public can't appreciate. It is because of the recognition and appreciation of the public that it has become a masterpiece!

Subjectivity and objectivity in the appreciation of works of art determine that works of art never have exactly the same evaluation criteria, which leads to a hundred schools of thought contending in literary criticism and literary creation, in which works of art blossom, but at the same time people's evaluation criteria will gradually converge-that is, the views of the majority will prevail! In the evaluation of all kinds of works of art, judges are often experts recognized by the public for their artistic attainments. Although they have their own styles and schools, their aesthetic value orientation of works of art often represents the aesthetic views of the public. Otherwise, under the condition of multiple standards, the evaluation cannot be carried out!

Second, the ideological artistry of the work

-Also on eulogizing truth, goodness and beauty and lashing falsehood and ugliness.

Measuring a photographic work or even any literary work is nothing more than judging from two aspects: one is the ideological nature of the work, and the other is the artistry of the work.

The ideological content of a work refers to the thoughts, opinions and emotions that the author wants to convey to readers (audiences) through his works, that is, "writing carries the Tao". The reflection of art works on life is the unity of reproduction and expression. The so-called reproduction means describing the objective situation of people, things and things, that is, objective reproduction; The so-called performance not only conveys the author's understanding of social life, but also expresses his subjective feelings about things and life. Although on the surface, photography is a copy of people, events and things, especially documentary photography of humanities, which shows the author's choice, concentration and generalization of social life and is the result of the author aesthetic comprehension, it is inevitably branded with the author's thoughts and feelings. Most artists like to flaunt that they are not interested in politics, but I don't think anyone can say that they are not interested in the ideological content of their works! Because there is no ideological work, it is just an empty shell, a zombie!

Everyone is familiar with the famous photographic work Big Eyes. Through the lens, the author objectively reproduces the children's thirst for knowledge and expectation for good teaching conditions in poor areas, and also expresses the author's sympathy and cry for the whole society, thus giving birth to the utilitarian hope project. The works Father in 1980s and My Mom and Dad by Jiao Bo recently, although the familiar images of the old people are reproduced in the lens, convey to us the hardships of life and respect for parents and working people. The most memorable 10 photos in the last 20 13 years, whether it is "Cold and Warm Dependence" or "Love", eulogize the truth, goodness and beauty of human feelings. Wang Zhizhong, the tracker, the crying old man, and so on. Guide us to pay attention to the vulnerable groups and call on the society to give them goodwill and help.

The ideological content of the work is the embodiment of the author's thought, although the author's thought will change differently in different periods. As a work of art, it is difficult to summarize what ideas have been expressed in different historical periods. However, in the same historical period, ideas that reflect the mainstream of an era, progressive ideas, ideas that represent the masses of an era, and ideas that are conducive to social civilization and progress should all be good ideas. We are civilians, and some of us are civilians. Our life is improving every day, and people have paid too much effort and even their lives for this progress. Although there are shadows in the sun, there is no reason not to love the increasingly happy life created by our hard work, and there is no reason not to let people who have sacrificed their time watching TV to appreciate our works perceive the beauty of nature, human feelings and life through our works. Therefore, we still use the lens in our hands to show the truth, goodness and beauty of life! I don't object to exposing falsehood and ugliness, because it can help us understand the disadvantages of the times, help us fight, cure cancer and promote the civilized and healthy development of society. However, if the camera is always aimed at the dark side, it always reflects negative and decadent things, giving people the feeling that listening to sadness and joy at the wedding and swallowing flies at dinner. The key to reflecting the dark side lies in the author's position and starting point. It also reflects the dark side. The photos of Wang Zhizhong, the tracker and the crying old man reflect that the author's thoughts and feelings are noble, uplifting, caring and positive!

In addition to the seven basic elements of photography, the artistry of the work should also be emphasized as follows:

First, the composition should be artistic.

First, correctly handle the reasonable layout of foreground, subject and background in three-dimensional space. Within the limited landscape framework, we should be good at using visual language, and properly handle the reasonable layout of foreground, subject and background in three-dimensional space on the premise of highlighting the subject, so as to make them echo harmoniously and organically and complement each other. Among them, the subject is always emphasized, and the foreground and background serve the subject. They are good at using the light and shade, reality, distance and color changes of the three to express the trend, dynamics and emotions of the subject. Foreground and background are the accompaniment and embellishment of the subject, which are determined according to the needs of the subject. There can be only subject and background, or only foreground and subject, or only subject.

Second, be good at using colors and landscapes to guide the audience's sight. The end point of line of sight extension should be the subject to be expressed. If the end of the line of sight extension is not on the subject, it will inevitably distract the attention of the subject. The color and brightness of the subject are also stronger than the background of the foil, otherwise the background of the foil will be too eye-catching. There is a basic principle in the choice of photographic composition, which is often called "subtraction rule". Remove all the foil that is dispensable to the main body without regret. The background of the foil must not be usurped by the host in terms of position, clarity, color and brightness.

Third, pay attention to the use of the golden ratio. Nowadays, cameras are usually equipped with a TIC-tac-toe framing auxiliary frame, which actually uses the golden ratio principle. The rational layout of the subject should be at the four intersections of four straight lines, at least one of which coincides. Except for buildings that need to show stability, the center of the subject is generally not enough for people to take pictures.

Fourth, leave space for the dynamic front area of the subject. When shooting the profile of a character or a moving body, there should be room for motion imagination in front of the face of the character or moving body, otherwise the character and moving body will give people a feeling of hitting a wall, which is not conducive to the performance of dynamic content.

Fifth, pay attention to the formal beauty of the picture. Photography is the art of changing disorder into order and disorder into rules. Therefore, the factors that destroy the aesthetic feeling of the figure, such as trees growing on the head of the figure, telephone poles popping out, people framed by dark doors, the picture being divided into two by clear vertical lines or horizontal lines, and the buildings being seriously tilted from the horizon, will give people a very uncomfortable feeling and should be avoided in shooting.

Second, the focus is reasonable.

Why do you say "the emphasis is empty and reasonable"? Is virtual also reasonable? Beginners in photography focus on basic skills. Generally speaking, if the subject is out of focus, it is difficult to become a good photographic work. However, it is not necessarily right to simply say that a truly focused work is a good work. The key depends on the performance needs of the subject. For example, I remember a classic photo of a girl wearing a red poncho in the rain outside the window. The author focuses on the window glass covered with water droplets, and the girl in the distance loses focus and becomes a virtual shadow, but it is this virtual reality that exaggerates the mist effect of rain. Imagine that if people walking in the rain are very clear, the effect of rain and fog will inevitably be diluted. Therefore, according to the performance needs, determine where is the focus and where is empty. It shouldn't be true, it shouldn't be empty, and even it is empty everywhere, which is not necessarily a good work.

What's the point? The general theme should be true (re-emphasize the general) and the key parts should be true! The focus of people and animals is on the eyes, the focus of architecture is in the middle, the focus of five rows of photos is on the face of the person in the middle of the second row, and there are countless others. Bottom line: Be in the key part of your theme.

Third, there is a brightness.

Photography is the art of light. Just as the focus is reasonable, the exposure should still be bright and dark. A photo with accurate exposure is a good photo, but it is not necessarily an excellent work. High-profile films are artificially overexposed, which makes the white clothes and background of the characters disappear, strengthens the hair and face, and creates a holy and elegant artistic conception; Low-key films are deliberately underexposed, so that the clothes and backgrounds of the characters are submerged in black, highlighting the highlights of the face and creating a deep, quiet and elegant atmosphere. The overexposure and underexposure here are just a stroke of genius, and it is unfair to judge a work only by the accuracy of exposure.

But is there no standard to judge the exposure of a work? The answer is no, under normal circumstances, the exposure should be accurate. If the exposure is seriously overexposed or underexposed, the necessary shadows and details are completely gone. What should we show the audience? In real life, people are always used to seeing with their own eyes, and photographic works should also adapt to people's visual habits. Whether it is film or digital camera, its tolerance is far less than that of human eyes for scenery, so we should master the exposure more carefully and make the light and dark details of photos as close as possible to what people see with their eyes in their lives.

To sum up, the objective evaluation of a photographic work is based on the basic aesthetics of the public and the ideological and artistic nature of the work.