How to enhance artistry from the perspective of news photography.

Many people have the feeling that photojournalism mainly speaks based on news content rather than the artistry of photography. As a photojournalist, it seems that you should go wherever you go and take pictures of what happens there. That’s it. It seems that anyone who can use a camera can be a photojournalist, as long as he can run faster and be well-informed. There is no need to have ideas, skills, and high appreciation value like artistic photography. . In fact, this is not the case. Although photojournalists must meet the basic conditions mentioned above, they must not ignore the artistic existence of photojournalism. The same thing happens, at the same scene, different photographers will take pictures with different photographic effects. When these different works appear in different newspaper pages, they will produce completely different visual responses. Therefore, the eye-catching power of a news picture in a newspaper, its shocking power in people's vision, its persuasiveness to readers, and its beautification ability in the newspaper are all things that cannot be ignored. These contents are precisely where the vitality and value of photojournalism lie. The important factor that determines this value is the artistic quality of photojournalists. A good news picture can be an independent book, a painting, a piece of history. So, how to make photojournalism artistic? In what aspects does it specifically manifest? How does it differ from pure art photography? In my more than ten years of practice in photojournalism, I have initially realized the following three points through constant exploration and exploration:

(Sitting Monk)

1. The skeleton of the composition Function

Composition plays a decisive role in any picture. No matter where the photographer stands on the object, he must first consider the overall frame of the picture. The first thing to do is to check whether this location can capture all the content you need, and the second thing is to manage the required content to the best position. Among them, the composition of dynamic photography requires the most effort. It must be realistic and catch the eye, so that the picture can explain the problem powerfully and clearly in silence, which requires the author to have certain artistic management qualities. In addition, what distinguishes photography from other arts is the selectivity and application of professional equipment and field conditions. The photographer may have arrived at the scene in a very short period of time and quickly judged how to take pictures based on the environmental conditions of the away game. When the conditioned reflex reaches your subjective brain, you can immediately make a preliminary design: make full use of the characters and props on the scene to match the foreground and background, and immediately make it clear how to choose to use the equipment you bring to start working. Photography is a profession. Since it is a "professional", it means that it contains a lot of technical knowledge, such as the equipment and techniques needed to express things. The photographer will make the picture either empty in the front and solid in the back, or empty in the back and solid in the front, according to his or her own ideas, or use buildings to intersperse lines. It may be full or empty, light or dark; it may seek tranquility amid chaos, or seek diversity amid stability, making the picture full of space and breath. Composition is the skeleton and steel frame of the picture, and is the key to supporting the strength of the picture.

(On the way to Yinchuan)

2. The role of color in pictures:

Like all works of art, photojournalism is inseparable from the role of color. The color here not only refers to the color of the photographed object or color photos, black and white photos also have color content, which is the subtle matching and mutual coordination of black, white and gray in the work. If these three colors are used well, the color feeling will be no less than the effect of color photos. The sense of color that people appreciate from black and white photos is often more subtle and mysterious than when they look at color photos. This is why people still prefer black and white photography when there are so many photographic effects available today. In human history, many excellent photojournalism works are black and white photos. No matter how far apart the era it represents is from the present, as long as you see it, it is still so shocking and unforgettable. Needless to say, the appeal of color photos is that different tones will bring different visual experiences to people, and the different uses of strong colors and low colors can play a symphony-like ups and downs role. How to use colors, control colors, and make colors add brightness and meaning to pictures requires long-term and careful experience and exploration by photographers.

(Witnesses 3 and 15)

3. Dynamic news

News photography is inseparable from people and things. Where there are people and things going on, there is news. Dynamics is an important aspect that distinguishes photojournalism from other photography. There are also differences in dynamics. Singing, dancing, rescuing people and putting out fires are dynamics, speaking, attending meetings, thinking and listening are also dynamics. The former needs to capture the most intense moment of the scene, while the latter needs to capture the soul of things like a doctor feeling the pulse. And this "strength" is in the hands of the photojournalist, so the artistry of photography is also reflected here. I think the four words that best describe a good photographic work should be "emotional and reasonable". "Emotion" represents the subjective part given to the work; "reason" represents part of the objective conditions. The "dynamism" of "dynamic news" refers not only to the photographed object, but also to the emotion and touch subjectively given to the work. Therefore, good works of art are works created by a perceptive person that can move more people. The art of photography is an art form that photographers have practiced and explored for a long time. It is a process in which the author understands things and masters the skillful use of photographic equipment.

Some photography is very professional, such as sports speed photography, which requires very high equipment and skills. It is not something that can be easily solved by "pressing the shutter". With good works, people can appreciate a kind of eternal beauty from the dynamic moment; conversely, people can also experience the indescribable touch from the static works.

Since photography is an intuitive artistic product that expresses social reality, in this complicated world, excellent photographers can always capture the extraordinary side and find a touching point to express it. That is to express your feelings. Touching is an emotion. People and events have emotions; flowers, plants and trees have emotions; sunrise and sunset are emotions. Therefore, mastering photography skills and grasping the "emotion" of the photographed object will also grasp the main emotional channel for communication between the author and the viewer. In short, photojournalism is a product that combines journalism, artistry, and technology. Journalists also need to possess the three essential qualities of eye diligence, legwork, and brain diligence. They should constantly hone their "journalism eye" and "artistic eye" in practice, seize opportunities, and create new ideas. Only then can you stand out and record history well.