Responsibility, Mission and Innovation —— Comment on "There is Me that Day"

Responsibility, Mission and Innovation —— Comment on "There is Me that Day"

Liang Hong.

When we opened the news documentary photo album "I was there that day" edited by Wang Meng, the photography department of Ningxia Newspaper Group, the rigorous photo composition picture and concise language overview, this unique visual picture combined with concise words were fascinating, and we unconsciously finished reading the 476-page photo album in one go, which gave us a thumbs-up to this team.

The form of news photography reporting with equal emphasis on graphics and text has been adopted by photographers for many years and has been widely praised by the media and readers. Wang Meng, director of the photography department of Ningxia Daily, led the team members from a new angle, taking people's most unforgettable birthdays as the theme of the report, and interviewed the news from different perspectives, telling the people's pursuit of current social and economic development, rich material life and spiritual civilization with artistic appealing pictures and grounded popular language.

The filming of "I was there that day" lasted one year. Starting with the daily micro-event reports, the positive energy of society is publicized and people's ideology is correctly guided. This new propaganda concept and topic selection mode is rooted in the fertile soil of the people, absorbs the nutrients of the people, shows the happy life of the people and carries forward the patriotism of the people.

First, the social significance of news photography

Nowadays, with the development of social economy, artificial intelligence has quietly penetrated into all fields of society, and the pace of people's life and work is also accelerating. People's acquisition of information also focuses on the way of receiving pictures and texts. In order to enhance people's sense of interest, identity and participation in obtaining information, this team composed of young people reported every day of the year in an all-round way with a brand-new concept, focusing on the activities of a citizen elected by all walks of life on the day of celebrating his birthday, and reported it in the form of news photography. This reporting method requires high timeliness. The editor-in-chief of the book said in the postscript: "When they finish the routine interview task every day, everyone should try their best to interview and photograph an ordinary person who has a birthday, publish the manuscript on the same day and read the newspaper the next day." This fast-paced, high-frequency work makes photographers who have always attached importance to photography and ignored words feel pressure. Julian Harris pointed out in the book "Essentials for All-round Journalists": "Most of the daily work that journalists face is part of the ever-changing things every day. The reporter's task may suddenly change from interviewing an ordinary thing to going to an exciting news event, and he can quickly consider how to smoothly transfer from one task to another more newsworthy report. " Therefore, most journalists work selflessly under the pressure of time. This is a necessary quality to be a qualified journalist.

"I was there that day" not only reflects the extensive coverage of people's livelihood, but also reflects some outstanding achievements and gains of people's livelihood in social and economic development. At the same time, it also shows that news comes from society and is rooted in people.

In today's society, the general public needs this kind of journalists who are grounded, popular and promote justice, which is also an inevitable requirement given to journalists by social development, and they have done it.

Second, the photographic language of "I was there that day"

What is news photography? Professor Hu Wugong, an advocate of contemporary photojournalism and documentary photography in China, said in the concluding article of 1992 China photojournalism award: "photojournalism is a news form with news means as the carrier. The image of the picture has become the most basic material language in photographic news. No matter how important a theme, event or story is, it can't be regarded as an excellent news picture without a clear image of' a picture is worth a thousand words'. " In addition, Xu Ye, director of the photography department of Xinhua News Agency, said: "News photography is value of the image first, and then news value. News without images is not news photography. We only have such a standard. " After many years, this standard is still the basic standard for judging news photography. Photographs of news photography are measured from four aspects, namely, distinctive theme, prominent theme, concise picture and vivid image. This is what experts often say, news photography should first present a valuable image. Because in news photography, these four shooting principles can be put in place, and 70% success in picture shooting means that it has the value of news photography.

"I was there that day" followed the basic principles of news photography. Every photo, first of all, presents a clear theme to the reader with non-verbal visual elements, giving people a "straight to the point" visual effect and strengthening the characteristics of looking at pictures. At the same time, from the shooting technique of photographic composition, the "who" of the event reporter in "News Five Elements" is directly placed on the interesting line in the picture, and the protagonist is pushed to the stage. The visual elements in the photographic picture are expressed in the form of subtraction, which keeps the close relationship between the visual elements and the subject and achieves the effect of concise picture. In order to make the picture vivid, reporters are required to record the instantaneous pictures of the main characters with dynamic characteristics during the interview. From the album, we can see that the performance of these nonverbal visual images is in place, which shows the professional ability and solid shooting skills of this team member. In this regard, this young team has done a very good job.

Nowadays, photography has become a popular and convenient tool for recording instantaneous images, which also puts forward higher requirements for professional photographers and requires photographers to seek new breakthroughs. Li Shufeng, editor-in-chief of China Photographer magazine and critic of photography theory, said in the book Photography Observation: "As a photographer, to get in touch with the people, understand the people, experience the background color of life, touching details and the texture of life existence, it is necessary to go deep, to the depths of social life and to the depths of human hearts. We need to defend the objectivity of facts and human desire for truth, and maintain the power of images without fear of pain and death. "

Thirdly, the aesthetic concept of news photography.

News photos should be expressed through the nonverbal visual effects of the lens. As Zhang, director of the Photo Center of Zhejiang Newspaper Group, said: "Journalists should take good news photos, use their brains when they go to the news site, find the right angle and skillfully use external forces. Of course, they need imagination and are indispensable. " He also talked about whether photographic news photos are perfect: "Is it possible to ask for perfect news photos? The charm of news photos lies in catching the most wonderful moment! What I caught was' a beautiful man covers a hundred ugliness'. " This is also the result of applying Cartier Bresson's classic shooting theory "decisive moment" to practice. Therefore, a good photojournalist will take advantage of the instantaneity of photography technology to capture instantaneous people, events and images with typical instantaneous significance, thus showing a typical vivid instantaneous picture.

In the photo report "Every day is alive" shot by reporter Wang Meng in the photo album, we can see at a glance that the photographer made full use of the background picture from the concise photo picture and explained the living environment of the main characters to people. Through the visual elements in the hands of the characters in the picture-cameras and mobile cars, the essence of their work is explained. At the same time, the composition method of golden section is adopted, and the main characters are placed on the interesting center line on the left side of the picture, and the composition principle of highlighting the main body is applied in place. Shoot from the front, choose the picture expression of the middle scene, fully show the detailed facial expressions and dynamic bodies in their works in the form of snapshots, and shoot vivid visual pictures instantly. At the same time, the photographer also made good use of the warm light angle at sunset in the evening, which made the visual effect of light and shadow of the characters and the layering of the picture more in place, and the artistic conception and aesthetics of photography were well displayed in the picture.

On the title naming of photos, the reporter adopted the propositional principle of "truth, goodness and beauty" and used the critical title method to determine the title of the news photos of "Every Day is Live". From this title, the working attitude and professionalism of the reported person are presented. At the same time, through concise language, it also summarizes the protagonist of the picture-Zhang Weidong, director of the cultural and sports channel of Yinchuan TV Station. His work performance in the media for more than 20 years and his message on the future career prospects more truly set off the media people's persistence in building a big Yinchuan from a certain side. We can also see from the news photo of "Aunt Neighborhood Committee" taken by Bai Ru reporter that this photo records the instantaneous expression of the protagonist with the shooting skill of small depth of field in the front corner. At the same time, it also makes full use of the background elements and highlights the distinctive theme of the picture. In the arrangement and layout of the picture, the accompanying characters and interactive objects are reasonably selected to the best position, on the one hand, their working environment and nature are presented to the viewer, on the other hand, the photographer's solid photographic skills are seen from the balanced shooting techniques, which well controls the scale of the aesthetic and artistic expression ability of the picture. In the selection of photo titles, photographers adopted novel naming principles, and linked "young" and "aunt" through philosophical comments, which aroused readers' curiosity and forced them to read the introduction. Teacher Zhang, the picture director of Zhejiang Newspaper Group, said in the book "Debate on the Advantages and Disadvantages of News Pictures": "News photography is by no means a good photo when it captures news-worthy subjects, but it should be carefully compared on the spot, carefully discovered the characteristics and quickly grasped the moment." This is what he emphasized "to show the key features of news content in place". He also emphasized in the chapter "Expressing content in aesthetic form": "When we use photos to report news, we must not ignore the artistry and aesthetics of photos. On the contrary, we must skillfully use the aesthetic form of photos to strengthen the expression of news content. " From the album "I will be there that day", we can see the professionalism, professional quality and skills of the young photography team, as well as the comprehensive display ability of the aesthetic artistic conception of photo photography.

Fourth, responsibility is the mission.

The editor-in-chief of the picture album gave a philosophical overview of his many years of career in the postscript of "That Day Has Me". That is, "great things depend not on strength, but on persistence." Staring at one thing for a year and trying to do it well is called success for me. "With this dedicated work attitude, the author encourages team members to adhere to a belief and assume the responsibilities entrusted by the cause under the pressure of high rhythm and high frequency. You are more persistent than others, the greater the motivation, the more you gain. This is what people often say: "Persistence is victory". Su, the predecessor of this young team and vice chairman of Ningxia Federation of Literary and Art Circles, spoke highly of the album: "The interaction between pictures and texts and the integration of painting and meaning have unfolded a full picture of life. The vivid protagonists in the picture scroll, with a full sense of accomplishment, are integrated with the footsteps of our times and come firmly and heroically, forming a color label that leads our fashion. " Readers are also more "expecting their more wonderful photo reports to come to us".

With the popularization of photography technology, people's appreciation of the aesthetic of photography art is also constantly improving, and the requirements for journalists' professional ability, photo shooting skills and aesthetic value of photo art are also constantly improving. This young team has a long way to go, and its responsibility and mission are the driving force. I hope that with tenacious perseverance, they will persist in doing everything they identify, realize themselves, and show the value of life from many angles and aspects. The fruits of their efforts will certainly be recognized by the society. Our readers also eagerly expect this team to get better and better on the journey of innovation.

Liang Hong, former director and associate professor of Modern Education Technology Center (Photography Review) of Education College of Ningxia University, member of China Photographers Association and Ningxia Literature Critics Association. Won the "Good News Award" of Ningxia TV Station for many times. He has published many articles in the National Agricultural University Audio-visual Education and other publications.