Rebirth of top photographers

Chapter 178 The truth of the decisive moment!

On the second page of the cover, instead of seeing the photo, I saw a preface.

This is Chen Pingsheng's explanation and summary of the "decisive moment", and it is also his most profound insight during this period.

Gaituwen did not rush to let Chen Pingsheng turn the pages to look at the photos, but carefully read the words in this article.

"Everything in the world has its decisive moment
“Like many children, I broke into the world of photography with a box of film. When a certain scene is displayed in front of my eyes, I always long to capture its entire essence within the limited scope of a photo. .

It has been 12 years since I picked up a camera. Although I am no longer an amateur, I still consider myself an amateur. "

Changing the text and thinking about the meaning of the text is like tasting a glass of mellow liquor.He likes to chew on words or look through pictures because he can see the author's thoughts.

And now he seemed to see a writer making a summary of his works.

"The storytelling of photography:
“Sometimes, a photograph is incomparable, the composition is so vivid and gorgeous, and the content within it is so compelling that a single photo is a complete story in itself.

"But this is rare. The factors that can make a story shine are often scattered, not in space, but in time. If you force them to be put together, it will be a 'stage-style' s arrangement'.

“So photo albums often organize and connect elements scattered at different times through the arrangement of pages, forming a kind of picture story.

"Picture stories are the result of the linkage of the brain, eyes and heart. The purpose is to depict things that are changing, so you must always be alert and alert, and you need enough physical strength and endurance. As the saying goes, patience is the key to a photographer The best virtue.

“A photographer must avoid the tendency to want to take pictures of everything. We must extract from the materials of life and refine with discernment.

"And always pay attention to the relationship between the subject and the photographer. When the subject feels uncomfortable, our cameras will not be able to capture the person's true personality."

After reading this paragraph, I just found it wonderful, concise and highly summarized. In just a few hundred words, people can understand the composition of the photography story and what to pay attention to.

He felt that Chen Pingsheng seemed to be doing something very important, but he was not sure yet, so he continued to look down.

"The subject of photography:

"The theme is not equal to the display of facts, because facts themselves are rarely interesting. However, through facts, we can understand their internal laws, and thus better choose to express substantive themes that fit the facts.

“In photography, the smallest things can become the greatest subjects. Small things combined can become the main theme of the music. We must observe the world around us and express it through the lens.

"Because these things themselves have different rhythms, they are beautiful without knowing it, and they need to be displayed by the photographer."

Gai Tuowen nodded. These few sentences are the common rules of creators. Regardless of any subject matter or character, they are one of the facts of all things in the world.Maybe it's not interesting, but the creator's intention is to extract interesting points from boring life.

Then look down.

“The composition of photography:

"If a photo is to express a theme strongly, the form and content of the photo must establish a precise relationship. Photography itself is a rhythmic understanding of the real world. Therefore, the photographer's eyes must be in the complex real world. Look for and focus on specific themes.

"The function of the camera is only to record the decisions of the eyes on the photosensitive element or film. In a photo, the composition is the result of what the eyes see and the organic cooperation of various factors at the same time. Since content and form are closely related Inseparable, we naturally cannot be clever after the fact. In order to compose a picture, the basic elements are randomly disposed of regardless of the content. The composition must have its inevitability.

“You can see that if the shutter is released at the decisive moment, you must have instinctively completed a geometric figure. Without this geometry, the photo will lose its form and life.

Gai Tuowen could no longer take his eyes away and looked directly at the next title.

“The color of photography:

"Color in nature is an arrangement with a sense of depth. But on a flat surface, whether it is a painting or a photo, it is another kind of arrangement: an artificial arrangement.

"Rapid shooting will bring many difficulties to photography. We cannot grasp the relationship between the subject and various colors. Therefore, the decisive moment requires not only the grasp of composition, but also the grasp of color."

"The technique of photography:
“In any case, people care too much about technical issues and too little about how to observe.

“If the photographer is happy with his camera and it’s a good fit for his work, that’s enough. The same goes for darkroom and computer post-production. Fit is greater than parameters, because you are the brains of the camera.

"In the post-production process, we have to actively restore the state and purpose of taking the photo. To this end, we even have to change the color tone to be consistent with the photographer's intention when he pressed the shutter. Of course, it is also very necessary to re-establish the balance between light and shadow."

These two paragraphs are still extended around the term "decisive moment". Although the preface does not say a word about how to shoot the decisive moment, Gai Tuwen seems to have understood Chen Pingsheng's creative philosophy.This is the opposite of "The Crow". One is that you are afraid that you will be spoiled in advance, and it remains mysterious until the end.

One is to speak directly from the heart, so straightforward that I want to tell you all the meaning, for fear that you will not understand.

In terms of form, it is obvious that the former is better and more surprising.

But if you take into account the essential content and role of this photo album, Gai Tuowen feels that Chen Pingsheng must have had his own considerations in doing this.

There is also the last paragraph. I went to the computer and flipped the pages to read it.

"photography:
"The camera allows us to obtain a visual record. For me, this is my diary. This is a world full of prejudice and noise, but it is also a world hungry for information. People need the thinking that photos can bring them.

“As a photographer, you inevitably have to evaluate what you see during the photo taking process, and this also means a great responsibility. Of course, you can also take objective records and give the right of these evaluations to the audience.

“The above is not a general definition of photography. Photography has many forms, from snapshots to advertisements, from people to landscapes. I don’t want to give a definition of photography that everyone can accept, nor do I want to describe my past. To define it for future works, I will only define it for this work "The Decisive Moment".

“For me, photography is a way to simultaneously confirm in a moment the meaning of an event and how to appropriately express it in a precise structural form.

"Through life practice, our understanding of ourselves will be synchronized with our understanding of the surrounding world. The world is transforming us, and we are also transforming the world. We must strike a balance and make the two worlds unify. This is the world we have to express.

"I believe that content and form are not separated. Form is a rigorous organization of the interaction of planes, lines and tones. Only by using this organization can our concepts and emotions become concrete and contagious.

"The decisive moment is not an Eastern or Western concept, but a pure photographic concept. This is the final decision of the unity of time, space, and aesthetics. What kind of aesthetic principles you have will determine how you think you are perfect. moment.

"What determines whether your 'moment' is good or not is not a theory, but your artistic intuition and aesthetic thoughts. I have no intention of deciding anyone's 'moment', but this set of theories is what I consider to be a high-level summary of photography, so It would be my luck and honor if you could benefit from it.”

"Bah bang bang!" When Gai Tuowen finished reading the last sentence, he couldn't help but applaud.

"The writing is really good!" He turned to look at Chen Pingsheng: "In this life, you are going to be a teacher in the photography world!"

"Is there any?" Chen Pingsheng spread his hands and wondered, but he didn't feel it himself.

Gai Tuowen nodded: "Of course, I have never seen a similar theory appear in the photography world. Your preface directly pointed out the theme of your photography and taught all viewers the meaning of this theme."

After a pause, he continued: "This is equivalent to giving a theoretical lesson to the photography world!"

"It's not impossible." Chen Pingsheng laughed.

The reason why the decisive moment has always been popular in the photography world, and has even become everyone's consensus on photography, is because the basis of its theory does not come from a summary style.

In fact, this is a complete summary of the core ideas about photography.

Even in any artistic creation, it can be integrated.

Because every work of art means a different "moment", as mentioned in the preface, it is an organic combination of time, space and aesthetics.

Even the so-called "non-decisive moment" is born with the gene of a decisive moment.

It is like the theoretical cornerstone of mathematics such as 1+1=2. Can you imagine that one day this calculation will be overturned?

The "Decisive Moment" of another world is rejected by some people because its geometric composition and frame are too deterministic and fixed, making people feel that photography has lost its freedom.

But this is not the fault of the theory, so in order to avoid a similar situation, Chen Pingsheng pointed it out at the end.

"Whatever aesthetic principles you have, you will get the decisive moment that you think is perfect."

This is the truth of the decisive moment.

　Update at [-]:[-]pm, update at [-]:[-]pm

　　
　
(End of this chapter)