What is the development of photography in the 20th century?

After entering the 20th century, with the development and spread of photography technology, the increasing progress of photographic equipment and the gradual popularization of small cameras, more and more people have mastered photography technology, and the subject matter of photography has also expanded. All these have laid the foundation for the rise of many photography societies in China.

From the 1920s to 1930s, China's photographic art developed from bud to maturity. During this period, photography societies mushroomed all over the country. They promoted the germination and prosperity of photography, and left a trail blazer mark in the history of photography in China.

I. Beijing Guangshe

As a famous photography art group in China, Beijing Guangshe took the lead in raising the banner of photography art and opened up the road of artistic photography. The activity time of Guangshe was less than 10 years, but it pushed photography onto the art stage and made due contributions to the pioneers.

The predecessor of Guangshe was 1923 "Art Photography Research Association" established by Peking University photographers. The earliest members, only seven or eight people including Huang Zhenyu, Chen Wanli and Qian Jinghua, were based in Dazhiying, and soon moved to Chen Wanli's residence in Li Pingan. 1926, a number of new members, such as Liu Bannong and Lao Yanruo, joined the Optical Society, and the number of members grew to more than 20. At this time, Guangshe is no longer a photography agency of Peking University, but a veritable Beijing Guangshe.

The main activity of Guangshe is to hold a photography exhibition and publish a collection of photography works-Beijing Guangshe Yearbook. From June 1924 to June 14 to June15, Guangshe held the first member photography exhibition in Central Park (now Zhongshan Park in Beijing), which was the first film exhibition held by a photography group in the history of photography in China. The film festival was well received by all parties, and five or six thousand people came to visit it in two days, which greatly encouraged the confidence of the members. As a result, the annual public exhibition was held for five consecutive sessions.

After the Fourth Film Festival, 16 people who participated in the film festival selected 2 to 5 photographs, including 56 * *, and sorted out the first episode of Beijing Guangshe Yearbook, which was published in 1, 928, 1. This is the earliest collection of photographs published in China. It was printed in 16. Liu Bannong wrote a preface and wrote a short story. Wang wrote Notes of Jingguang Society, which described the purpose and history of Guangshe.

Among the members of the Optical Society, there are many early famous photographers. Chen Wanli, who is also known as "the four outstanding artists of optical society" with Qian Jinghua, Wu Yuzhou and Lao Yanruo, is one of the pioneers of photography art in China.

Chen Wanli was born in 1892 and began to study photography in 19 19. At that time, many people thought that photography was absolutely mechanical, and as long as they had technical experience, they could succeed. On the other hand, Chen Wanli thinks these views are "short-sighted and fallacious". He once said:

In addition to mechanical action and technical experience, it is important to take materials, compose yin and yang, and back to back.

In his own photography practice, Chen Wanli first realized the aesthetic function of photography, and put forward the viewpoint of "creating beauty" in photography, that is, in the realm of "extreme beauty", he discovered and "captured beauty" and created natural beauty into artistic beauty that integrated and expressed the photographer's personality. This is the most basic and key issue in the theory of photography art. Putting forward this viewpoint and verifying it in practice is Chen Wanli's contribution to China's early photography aesthetics.

Chen Wanli created several "firsts" in the photography history of China: 1924. He published the first personal photography collection of China, Gale Collection, which included 12 photos. At the same time, the preface he wrote for "Gale Collection" is the first declaration of China's photography art. From 65438 to 0926, personal photography exhibitions were held in Suzhou, Shanghai and Xiamen, which was the first time in China.

Lao Yanruo (1883 ~ 1966), one of the "four outstanding artists of Guangshe", was born in a family of literati. Under the influence of his father, he loved art from an early age. Before and after the May 4th Movement, he took an active part in photography creation and became a member of the Light Society.

If Lao Yan is good at landscape photography, there are many excellent photographs in the world. There are five works in the first episode of Beijing Guangshe Yearbook: Twilight in the Morning, Western jackdaw in the Dead West, Seeking Beauty Together, Fisherman and Goldfish. Other representative works include Snow on One Shoulder, Morning Fog, Goose, Camel Pulling, Horse Racing and so on. His works have a wide range of themes, natural and vivid pictures, rigorous composition, full of poetry and painting, and rich in China traditional artistic style.

Lao Yanruo is not only an early photographer in China, but also an expert and inventor in science and technology. He was very innovative and developed a variety of photographic equipment, such as magnifying glasses and exposure clips, which contributed to the development of early photographic equipment industry in China.

Second, the China Photography Society

At the beginning of 1928, the China Photography Society was established in Shanghai. In the China Social Bulletin, it was clearly stated at the beginning that "the purpose is to study the art of photography".

Members of China society mainly serve the press and business circles. Its four photo exhibitions have left a deep impression on the history of photography in China. At that time, Tian Peng, the only photography magazine in China, wrote when describing the grand occasion of the China Film Festival:

As far as the wind is concerned, far and near viewers touch each other, and the products are exquisite and amazing. After the meeting in Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou came back with high reputation.

Different from Guangshe, except for 1 session, the film festival of Huashe widely collects photographic works, which can be exhibited as long as they meet the prescribed enlargement size, and gives certain care to works outside the society when selecting, not limited to members of Huashe. For example, among the authors who participated in the second film festival, there were dozens of people such as Liu Bannong, Wu Jixi and Zheng from Beijing Guangshe, Pan Dawei from Guangzhou Jingshe, Lu Zhenzhi from Changshu Music Club, Huang Qiunong, Lin Xuehuai and Guo Xiqi from Hong Kong and Shanghai, and Songjiang Huating Photography Society also joined the film festival as a group.

In1930,65438+February 2 1, a message was also published: American photographer gaston visited the conference at the 4th China Society Film Festival. "Yu Huashe's works have won high praise, especially for Shao, Lang Jingshan, Zhu Shouren and Hu, with Koch's opinion. It can be seen that even foreigners can participate in film festivals in China society as long as their works are exquisite.

The practice of China society has strengthened the photography team, trained new photographers and promoted the prosperity of photography.

The Chinese Society also edited and published Tian Peng and China Photography. These two photography magazines published many excellent photography works, art papers and technical introductions, and were the most influential photography magazines in China at that time.

The works of members of China Institution have a wide range of themes and diverse artistic forms, and some photographers have their own distinctive artistic styles. For example, Hu, the author who exhibited the most works at the China Film Festival, always aimed at the working people at the lower class. At that time, people commented:

His subjects are often the rural streets near the water in Shan Ye. Putting some rough and trivial things into the lens immediately gives us a simple and pure taste, which makes people feel the beauty and richness of our East.

The works of other members of China society, such as Lang Jingshan, Hu Bozhou, Shao and Zhu Shouren, also have their own characteristics. Some of them later became famous photographers at home and abroad, and they made outstanding contributions to the nationalization and individualization of photography in China.

Third, the black and white film club.

Black and White Film Society is the largest and most influential photography group after Beijing Guangshe and Shanghai Huashe in 1930s.

The Black and White Film Club was founded on New Year's Day of 1930. When it was founded, there were only seven members: Chen, Lin Zecang, Lin Xuehuai, Nie Guangdi, Cao Yunfu, Lin and She. The social site is located at No.845, Happy Valley Road, Master Lu Medical Center. Soon, Master Lu also became an important member of the Black and White Film Society.

As soon as the Black and White Film Society was established, it formulated the "Black and White Film Society Chapter", which clearly stipulated the name, purpose, membership, subscription fee, organization and so on.

The reason why the Black and White Film Club was named "Black and White" is explained in the social chapter:

Black and white is the whole of light, that is, the whole of color. Photography is the form of light and color, and light and color are the soul of photography.

The harmony of black and white symbolizes photography.

The purpose of the film club is also clearly defined in the social chapter:

Our club has gathered people who have a strong interest in photography. They are engaged in the research of artistic photography to praise our culture and improve our position in the international art world.

The requirements of the film club for club members are:

Anyone with the same purpose and good conduct, regardless of photography experience, business or non-business, can become a member of the club after signing the application for membership and being approved by the Committee.

The black-and-white film club ranks its members regardless of seniority, which corrects the closed-door society in China and makes its members develop rapidly. By the eve of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the members had spread all over the country, with 168 members. Sha Fei, Ao and Ye, famous photographers, were members of the Black and White Film Society at that time.

The theme of black-and-white film Society's works is wider than that of Chinese Society. In addition to general scenery, flowers and birds, still life, portraits, buildings and human bodies, works reflecting real life and social outlook account for a considerable proportion. For example, Diligence by Situ Huai, Hunger by Chen, Mow and Come Home Late by Ao, Good Companion by Wu Zhonghang, etc. They all focus on the working people at the bottom of society and record their living conditions.

The Black and White Film Society has held four large-scale "Black and White Film Festivals" and two joint film festivals of Master Chen and Master Lu. In addition, three volumes of black-and-white picture books were published, including the works exhibited in the second, third and fourth black-and-white film festivals.

Bannon Tan Ying

Liu Bannong (189 1 ~ 1934) occupies an important position in the photographic history of China. As a famous linguist, writer and poet, this valiant soldier of the May 4th New Culture Movement showed his insight into the art of photography from the beginning, and was called "the first person in China's photographic aesthetics".

Liu Bannong started taking pictures when he was seventeen or eighteen. At that time, he was just playing around. Later, I went to France to study, and then I really studied photography as an art. From 65438 to 0925, Liu Bannong returned to China and taught at Peking University. At that time, some people belittled the art of photography, but he didn't think so, and joined the "Beijing Light Society" which actively advocated and promoted the art of photography the following year.

1927, Liu Bannong published China's first photographic aesthetic book "Talking about Shadows by Half Farmers". In the book, he first refuted Qian's argument that "anyone who loves photography must be an imbecile" and all kinds of false words that painting is expensive and taking pictures is cheap. He said:

Painting is painting, and photos are photos. Although they have similarities, they have their own characteristics and cannot imitate each other. If the purpose of photography is to imitate painting, it is better to simply learn painting.

Then, Liu Bannong divided photography into three categories. Besides the accidents in the studio, there are two categories: repeated photography and non-repeated photography. He believes that different types of photography must use different rules. Instead of copying "artistic photography", it focuses on "freehand brushwork".

What is freehand brushwork? After pointing out that "freehand brushwork" is not "writing fake", Liu Bannong wrote:

It is to express the author's artistic conception through photography ... for example, it is also the main entrance. If you write it, you will still write a rigid main entrance with 100 photos; If you write in a freehand way, ten people will write differently: some can write magnificently, some can write vividly, some can write enthusiastically, and some can write coldly.

In other words, simple "portrait" and "copy" are dead, while "freehand brushwork" and "non-copy" are alive. In an era when people generally think that photography can only "copy" life, it is undoubtedly of great significance for Liu Bannong to boldly put forward that photography should express the artistic conception of the author.

For the debate about "clear" (clear image) and "paste" (blurred image) in Chinese and foreign photography circles at that time, Liu Bannong thought that although it was a technical problem, it must be handled according to the needs of the author to express his thoughts and contents, and criticized some people for blindly taking "paste" as beauty:

As for freehand photography, it depends on the author's artistic conception: he thinks that only with clear thinking can he write a certain artistic conception, that is, his skill; He thought he could write only after posting it, which was his skill. We can only ask him if his artistic conception can be written, ok; As for the clear and paste, it is up to him to consider: he has absolute freedom.

..... Some people don't know that paste is just a material to make beauty, but they actually recognize beauty as a whole, so paste! Paste! Paste! What a mess! It's terrible!

In addition, Liu Bannong also made it clear that showing the breath of China people is the requirement of China's photography. He opposes taking the Anglo-American-Japanese yearbook as the "ancestor" and blindly imitating the works of foreigners. He thinks that this imitation is "white-haired people send black-haired people, and works are packed in ten boxes" and "just a fruitless one". In the preface written for the second episode of Beiping Guangshe Yearbook, he wrote:

I think taking photos, no matter whether others respect it as art or belittle it as nonsense, we should never forget a person, not to mention that we are from China.

..... We must be able to fully display our own personality and the unique taste and charm of China people through the mirror box, so that our works, besides those of people from other countries in the world, will become another kind of breath, and then our works will not be in vain.

Today, more than 70 years later, this passage is still "shocking."