What do you want the curator to do?

It should be said that curating is a new subject in the field of photography, and curators are also new things. The reason why Pingyao International Photography Exhibition, which leads the international atmosphere, introduces the curator mechanism is precisely to better guide the theme and select fine products so that all exhibits can reflect a certain level.

So, what does the curator want and what is the photographer doing? Robert, president of American contact photo agency, who is the part-time curator? We know a thing or two from Preki's words. Many metaphors he made, such as the curator is the media and the curator is like a conductor of a band, vividly illustrate the important role of the curator and the work that needs to be completed. The planned works should express certain ideas and themes, which can not only satisfy the photographer, but also make the audience understand. Expressed the meaning of the photographer, satisfied the visual psychology of the audience, and the role of the curator played a role.

The curator's first job is to choose photos. The criterion for choosing photos is by no means to look at the distance of personal relationship and the closeness of usual communication, but to see whether the photographer's skills and level can reach the benchmark in the curator's mind, whether the photographer's works can conform to the curator's thoughts, or whether the works in the photographer group can reflect their own unique style and strength. It is understandable that photographers want to show all their works to the public, but most curators follow the principle of "rather short than excessive, rather simple than complicated" From a certain point of view, curation, like photography, is subtraction. During the Pingyao International Photography Exhibition in 2002, Professor Wu Jiabao, Dean of Taiwan Province Stone Ball Photography Art College, wrote a paragraph in the preface of his curatorial works to the effect that because there were not many new works of documentary photography in Taiwan Province Province in recent years, he only chose a group of Labor Chronicles from Zhou Qinghui to participate in the exhibition. Of course, he chose a large number of Danish, Korean and Japanese photographers to participate in the exhibition because of their unified style and standard.

Curators should also consider making detailed plans for the exhibition venue. This is a trivial matter, no matter who's work occupies what position, how to arrange what theme works. For the curator, his photos carefully selected in the early stage should form exhibits, and his kung fu is reflected in the exhibition. Just like Preki's metaphor, the curator should put all the notes in the right place like composing music, so that they have ups and downs and rhythms, so as to complete his own curatorial work. In fact, it can be said that the curatorial work of a photography exhibition is also an artistic creation. As a curator, Ange, a well-known photographer, entered the exhibition hall in Pingyao half a month earlier last year and began to supervise the exhibition. Mr. Wu Jiabao personally set up a booth at the exhibition site and hung photos of curatorial works, which made him feel sick. Curators should coordinate the relationship between photographers, the relationship between photographic works and the environment, so that unlimited photographic works can be displayed with the best effect in a limited space. This is also a reflection of the curator's level and skills.

It is suggested that China's photography curator should establish a brand. When foreign colleagues praised his excellent work, a curator was at a loss and quickly said that it was not his own work, but a wedding dress made for others. Even the photographer who works for this foreign colleague thinks this is a misunderstanding of ideas. It is the curator's painstaking efforts that make the exhibits joined by many photographers shine, and the exhibition as a whole is of course the curator's work. After all, in China, especially in China, curators are a new thing, and it will take some time for them to be accepted and recognized by photographers. But the photographer who participated in Pingyao International Photography Exhibition invited a curator: We must also curate our photographer next year. Similarly, a curator must establish his own brand if he wants to occupy the market. As long as your level can satisfy photographers and audiences, because your curation makes it easier for them to communicate through photography, you are a successful curator. Judging from the current situation, it may be difficult for China's photo curators to support themselves if they want to take curating as their profession, but this does not hinder the formation of the brand effect of part-time photo curators.

Mutual understanding and support between curators and photographers are also important. Photographers should realize that only careful curation can add color to their works; Only when the curator has real talent and practical learning can the photographer have trust. The cooperation between photographers and curators may be long-term or short-term. There will be friction and agreement between them, and the final works on display should be the joint efforts of photographers and curators.

However, it is still in Pingyao. It is only this year that we have seen such a phenomenon: although the names of curators are still written on various documents and announcements of the exhibition, the curatorial personality of many exhibitors is not obvious, the layout is messy, and the audience is in a daze looking for the order of their works. It shows that some curators don't seem to play their due role. In the eyes of some photographers, the curator is just a nice name, not a real professional worker. Therefore, an exhibition without curation, compared with curated works, is not only more than 100 but unintelligible, but also obviously different from 20 to 30, which is more difficult for the audience to understand. Some people say that some amateur exhibitions have affected the overall academic level of Pingyao International Photography Exhibition in 2003.

The reason why I'm so verbose is not the professional's opinion, but according to the professional's opinion, I tell my friends in the photography industry in popular language, so that everyone can have a superficial understanding of the countermeasure exhibition. As a new thing in photography, while I sincerely applaud its popularity, I can't help worrying that everything is the most taboo, isn't it that curators are popular? You will curate next year, and so will he. However, every photo exhibition needs to find a close friend who doesn't have curatorial skills to hang the name of the curator, which may not only lower the academic level of photography curation, ruin the reputation of the curator, but also hinder the gradual integration of China photography with the international photography community. You know, Mr. Preki read a lot of books and historical materials about the Cultural Revolution in China before planning Li Zhensheng's works.