Joe McNally's artistic contribution

Joe McNally, the name often appears in National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Life, Time Magazine, Newsweek and other media. He was the last full-time photographer employed by Life magazine in the United States, undertaking the shooting tasks of Kodak, Nikon, NASA, NYSE and other companies or groups. He is "the most versatile news photographer of our time". He is the first photographer to win the Aizenshtadt Prize for "Outstanding Visual Expression of Magazine" and one of the 100 celebrities in the history of photography selected by American Photography.

Capture light with your eyes.

June 5438- 10, 2005, the "Fashion Beijing" photography activity sponsored by Beijing Foreign Exchange Center invited Joe to China, which gave me a chance to really get to know and know this famous photographer. In just one week as an accompanying translator, I, a marginal professional photographer, have a new understanding of light and photography.

Joe has a pair of keen eyes, which is not only reflected in the documentary photographer's observation of the surrounding things, but also in the sensitive and accurate measurement of light. When shooting gymnasts' training in Shichahai Sports School, the indoor light is dark, so the use of flash will affect the normal training of young athletes. Joe looked at the window far away from the balance beam, looked at his watch and said, "1.5 minutes later, the light from the window will shine on the balance beam he is training." This is the best time to shoot children concentrate on training or the coach communicates with them. " So he put down his camera and sat there quietly waiting. Sure enough, a quarter of an hour later, the soft light shone on the young athletes. Joe seized the opportunity and took a wonderful shot of the coach guiding the young athletes. Joe said, "master photographer Eugene Smith said," Use all available light around you, so you should be sensitive to every kind of light. "

Report a documentary with light

The afterglow of the sunset is faintly scattered, and the endless stream of vehicles on Chang 'an Avenue and the bustling crowd on Tiananmen Square outline the vitality and vigor of modern Beijing. At this time, the soft light shines on the huge countdown spleen of the Olympic Games in front of the National Museum. Tiananmen guards walked past the countdown card with vigorous steps. Joe, who was filming Tiananmen Square, quickly raised his camera and captured the moment. Joe said that the theme of this photo may be that China is heading for the 2008 Olympic Games.

After nightfall, at the last moment when he left Qianmen Street, he saw the silhouette of a rickshaw and a rickshaw with China traditional characteristics under the light from the huge French window of Qianmen KFC. So he picked up the camera and took a photo reflecting the collision and blending of traditional and modern culture. "In news photography, the proper use of backlight and the effect of silhouette can sometimes reflect social phenomena more truly." Joe explained his experience to me. I listened carefully, feeling.

Thinking about photography with art

For reporting photography, the artist's way of thinking can always make it reflect the facts from different angles; For documentary photography, the artist's requirements can always make him take more visually shocking photos. Every time Joe shoots a theme or a character, he always looks back and forth for a long time, analyzes the venue, light and main characters, shoots a few tentatively, and then says to me, "The picture I want to shoot is like this …" Next, he either looks for and finds the picture that best matches the scene, or instructs the photographer to act according to his requirements.

When he arrived in Beijing, he took only a few flashlights and brackets with him and started his artistic photography journey. He used two 400W portable flashlights and four SB800 synchronous flashlights to take pictures of the young athletes in Shichahai Sports School. He used black cloth in the Liyuan Theater. A simple studio was built with wireless automatic flash and soft light board, and the faces of Peking Opera actors were photographed with double exposure. He invited ballerinas to put on ballet costumes and filmed traditional and modern works on the promenade of the Summer Palace bathed in the morning sunshine. ...

During his short stay in China for more than a week, Joe never put down his camera and kept capturing interesting stories and bright light. "This is a fascinating country. I will definitely come again if I have the opportunity." These were his last words when he left China.