Rebirth of top photographers

Chapter 239 This is also a decisive moment!
"What, what does he mean?" Robert was so shocked by this line of title that his brain was a little out of order, and he couldn't figure out what Chen Pingsheng was doing for a while.

"Isn't this easy to understand?" the man with dreadlocks exclaimed, "He appropriated your works and gave them new names."

"It's a genius idea and it's really bold."

Robert opened his mouth, and then looked at the photo of himself hanging on the wall. He finally came out of the angry state, but was immediately followed by a deeper feeling of panic.

Suddenly he heard people around him discussing these works.

"Is this Chen Pingsheng's new work?" A young-looking boy wearing glasses was asking his companions.

"No, you see, these are all the works he took of someone else. His name is Robert Keeney." The companion replied.

"Oh, it's such a bad shot, the composition, the colors."

"But this was also the decisive moment."

"Yeah, yes, it's just that the photographer's photography skills and aesthetics are quite poor."

Robert wanted to turn around and refute these two people loudly. His works were shot against the decisive moment, and what he pursued was a state of freedom that was natural, random, and not controlled by man.

So color and composition don't serve the content, which is a great idea.

But when the words came to his lips, he couldn't say them out.

The two boys also looked at other photos and no longer paid attention to Robert's works.

"Come on, man, let's go see other things." The man with the dreadlocks pulled Robert towards the back of the exhibition.

Along the way, as the corridor twisted, they saw the works of many photographers.

Without exception, these are the works of photographers who reject decisive moments.

Some shoot landscapes, some shoot portraits, some shoot street scenes, and some shoot linear buildings or geometric devices.

These photos were all reproduced by Chen Pingsheng and hung on the wall for people to see.

And because the works themselves are mixed, the audience's desire to complain is particularly strong.

Robert has seen many works being criticized harshly, and the words used were so unpleasant that even he, a bystander, felt embarrassed, not to mention many of the original authors present.

Yes, there are many opponents who have come to the exhibition, and they, like Robert, have experienced moments of anger and panic.

Some people had already left because they couldn't bear it, and the rest were holding their breath and planning to ask Chen Pingsheng for help.

But after waiting and waiting, I couldn't see Chen Pingsheng in person.

It’s as if the purpose of this exhibition was to publicly humiliate those who objected to that defining moment.

It was not until noon, when Robert had visited the exhibition three times, that Chen Pingsheng finally appeared.

Gallery owner Domingo first came to the small central booth, took the microphone and said: "Good afternoon, everyone. Next, Chen will come to the scene to interact with everyone. If you have any questions, you can raise your hands to ask."

"Wow!" After hearing this, everyone gathered around the booth.

They came here just to meet the young winner of the competition and ask him about his views on the recent trend against the decisive moment. Naturally, they would not miss this opportunity.

Seeing that the crowd was almost gathered, Chen Pingsheng walked out of the side door and came to the booth.

"Hello everyone, my name is Chen Pingsheng."

In an instant, many people raised their mobile phones in unison to shoot and live broadcast.

In addition, many people raised their hands and wanted to ask him about his intentions for this exhibition.

Chen Pingsheng randomly selected a middle-aged man to ask questions.

"Chen, why did you choose other people's photos for the exhibition? This is not photography at all, but plagiarism!" His tone was a little indignant, as if his own photos were included in the exhibition.

Chen Pingsheng already had an idea about this issue, so he picked up the microphone calmly and said: "First of all, I am not using other people's photos for direct exhibitions. These are my remakes. In the art world, this form is There have been cases before, so plagiarism is not established.”

Appropriation art in the photography world is a phenomenon that has always existed, but because it is only an isolated case and not well-known, it has not caused a large-scale discussion.

But if you are an art photographer, you will more or less know some related works.

And this form is very common in the entire art world. Or take Duchamp's urinal as an example. Is the urinal itself his work?
No, that's factory assembly line work.

He just changed its posture and placed it in a different scene.

But no one would think that the urinal manufacturer should come to Duchamp for compensation, just like what Chen Pingsheng did.

He reproduced the photos and opened an exhibition, which is similar to Duchamp's urinal.

The original context is changed to the current context, allowing the audience to realize the difference between the two and understand what Chen Pingsheng wants to express.

Of course, there is no way to do this in China.Because the domestic art world is generally more conservative, and there are no previous cases, everyone will only think that Chen Pingsheng is plagiarizing when they see the exhibition.

"Secondly, I think this exhibition is very 'photographic', using photography to respond to everyone. This is photography." Chen Pingsheng mentioned three photography in one breath, each of which seemed to have a different meaning, which made the Taiwanese The onlookers below couldn't help but ponder.

The middle-aged man was speechless and didn't know what to say.

But if he didn't refute it, it didn't mean that others didn't.

The second person Chen Pingsheng chose was Robert.

Robert raised his toes slightly, raised his neck and said: "Chen, you displayed these works and wrote this line of title. But they are far from what the works in your photo album express. Why do you think they are all the same?" Consistent with your theory of the decisive moment.”

Everyone nodded slightly when they heard this. Indeed, everyone felt that these photos were not very delicate.

It doesn't fit the tone of Chen Pingsheng's works in his photo album.

Chen Pingsheng did not answer the question first, but said to everyone in a questioning tone: "I would like to ask, when you look at these photos, do you think there is anything that does not fit the term decisive moment?"

Everyone thought for a while, and most of them shook their heads: "No."

Only a small number of people feel it is inconsistent.

This answer was completely unexpected by Robert. He had thought that everyone would think that these photos were inconsistent with the theme of the exhibition.

Chen Pingsheng looked at Robert and said: "Actually, I said very clearly in the preface that the decisive moment is defined by your own aesthetic principles. Therefore, the photos we see are the photographers' own aesthetic principles. , some of the key moments captured.”

"Many people may think that what they are photographing is not critical, so I am curious, why did you choose to photograph this moment?"

Robert replied: "What if I just took it randomly?"

"Then why do you want to take pictures?" Chen Pingsheng smiled: "If you want to record at will, what you take should be a series of pictures with time attributes. Rather than a single photo. And if you really I just took the photo casually, without even looking at the subject, everything is full of randomness.”

He paused and continued: "Then why did you choose photography?"

"In the final analysis, photography is a subjective and man-made behavior. It itself is controlled by human thoughts, so if you insist on saying that photography is completely free and disorderly, it is like you made a sandwich today. , and then just like everyone else saying this sandwich is your brother.”

"Hahahaha!" The people below burst into laughter.

Robert suddenly didn't know what to say, because when these works were placed in the exhibition and given the title of decisive moment, they had actually lost.

This is an advanced artistic concept and a dimensionality reduction attack that no one could have imagined.

When the opponents are still analyzing and refuting word for word.

Suddenly, he found that a big hand had collected all their works, and all his previous attacks became sharp blades directed at him.

This is really depressing.

What if we adopt the same method as Chen Pingsheng and reproduce his works, put them on display, and label them as non-decisive moments?
Don't be ridiculous. Once you do this, doesn't it mean that all the previous attacks were made out of nothing?

Again, Chen Pingsheng's decisive moment, through this operation, made everyone realize that this is the basic theory of photography.

It accommodates all photo types and styles, not just one way of shooting.

Anyone's work can be called a decisive moment, as long as it is a single photo taken in accordance with his own aesthetic principles.

It was also because of Chen Pingsheng's words that Robert realized that the only way to truly refute the decisive moment was to open a new track and take photos specifically.

Because it has the continuity of time, it is not an instant, nor can it be called decisive.

But these are two completely different shooting methods and cannot be compared.

Realizing this, Robert suddenly became a little discouraged. He stooped his back, and his originally straight formal suit was bent down, adding more wrinkles.

Chen Pingsheng's interactive session at the booth ended after 10 minutes.

After he stepped off the stage, Huang Liao came to his side and smiled: "It seems that this debate about the decisive moment is over."

From the argument at the beginning to the peace later, until the end was complete silence.

The entire question-and-answer session was a clear indication that the naysayers were beginning to unravel.

"I hope so." Chen Pingsheng didn't say it too fully.

However, he felt that the next discussion would definitely calm down.After all, this exhibition is really a blow to his bottom line.

"Let's go, it's time for us to head to our next stop."

"What's the job this time? Teacher Chen?" Huang Liao followed Chen Pingsheng with his hands behind his back.

"It's a commercial shooting and will be over soon." Chen Pingsheng took out his mobile phone, which displayed the name of the city he was going to next.

(End of this chapter)