I think of a topic that is often discussed in the photography circle – is photography art or not? After reading this article written by Mr. Zong Baihua after observing Rodin's sculpture in Paris in 1920, I suddenly understood.
The main purpose of Zong Lao's article is to discuss what art is:
Zong Lao's outlook on life and nature since childhood is the belief that the vitality of creation is the root of life and the inherent truth of nature. How harmonious, perfect, mysterious nature is. And nature is alive, "the expression of the great and beautiful spirit."
But as the author grows older and more experienced, "having been in conflict with this real world for a long time, it is an unshakable fact that there is a calm, ruthless, confrontational substance in this space, an obstacle to our self-expression and the activity of our will." It is also an unshakable fact that there are many miserable, cold, melancholy, and filthy present conditions in this personnel. This world is not a world of happiness, but a world of evolution in the battle towards happiness. "Like a small tree from the dark and cold land to the sun and air, doing endless battles, and finally supporting the branches and leaves, swaying in the blue sky and white clouds, expressing indescribable beauty - "all organic life is based on material support into the spiritual beauty."
So, "there is an incredible vitality in nature that pushes the living world into the organic world, from the organic world to the highest life, reason, emotion, feeling." This vitality is the source of all life and the source of all beauty." Nature is endless and beautiful because it expresses this incredible vitality everywhere; the artist's picture or sculpture can express the spirit of nature with its own spirit, so that the creation of art is like the creation of nature, so it can be called a work of art.
Author: Rice grain
Are photos art? The answer is: photographs that photographers do not process artistically are not works of art.
Zong Lao further explained the purpose and function of art with examples: "Looking up at the golden autumn leaves of the eaves trembling in the light waves, or looking down at the white clouds and blue sky swaying in the waves of the water under the willow trees by the pool", can bring joy and pleasure to the viewer. But in the end, the beauty of nature is not completely achieved by all art, and no artist can fully express it. Therefore, Elder Zong concluded, "Nature is always the source of all beauty and the model of all art." The ultimate goal of art is nothing more than to make the impression of the instantaneous change of nature and the impermanence of natural beauty, through pictures and sculptures, to generalize and perpetuate them. So that everyone can enjoy these natural beauty at all times. The true source of beauty lies in nature."
That photography is the most able to absorb nature in detail and in real terms, but Zonglao believes that photographs only "record the surface of nature, but cannot express the spirit of the underside of nature." Because the artist has an artistic concept (with the ultimate goal of expressing the truth of nature), the nature expressed by the artist is the real nature, and the photograph is not ingested. Rodin said: "Sure enough, the photographs lie, while the art is real".
Why? Elder Zong explained as follows:
We know that nature moves and changes all the time. Things are movements, and movements are things, and they cannot be separated. This kind of movement is cumulative, instantaneous, and unpredictable. The one who can grasp is no longer moving; the one who is not moving is not natural. (Dead things are not natural, because nature is alive). The photograph is in the transformation of the object, the acquisition of a corner, the strong movement of the elephant as a static image, is no longer the truth of the thing. Moreover, the mover has the expression of life, the role of the spirit; to describe the mover is to express life and describe the spirit. Everything in nature is in "activity", that is, it is all in the "spirit", everything is in "life". Artists want to express the truth of nature with the help of pictures, sculptures, etc., of course, they must express movements in order to express spirit and life. This "expression of motion" is the ultimate goal of art, that is, the fundamental difference between art and photograph.
Art can express "movement", but photographs cannot. "Moving" is the truth of nature, so Rodin said "Photographs lie, while art is real." “
It should be explained again that Zong Lao's article was written in Frankfurt in the winter of 1920, I checked the history of photography, at that time (from the 1920s to the early 1950s), world photography from the same trend of painting, "total painting" of the pictorial photography, began to enter the "ontology" exploration period, launched based on the two basic characteristics of photography - "authentic copy (documentary)", "time cutting (temporality)" on the aesthetic exploration. (Zhao Gang, A Brief History of World Photographic Aesthetics). Therefore, there is nothing wrong with Zong Lao's discussion, at that time, the darkroom technology should be relatively backward, unlike now there are various advanced digital darkroom means such as PS, which can allow photographers to play freely and express themselves arbitrarily.
So how does art express "moving images"? ZongLao confessed that this is the artist's big secret, he is not the artist himself, the secrets of each artist are different, there is no way to answer (but in the artist's work, you can feel the "movement"), but Zonglao introduced Rodin's secret, because Rodin had the original words.
Rodin's sculptural representation of the "secret" of "motion" is the process of first determining the transition of "motion" from one present state to a second, and then manifesting the intermediate process of this state.
Painters and sculptors, in their works, should express the first status quo, unconsciously transform into the second status quo, so that the viewer can see in the work, at the same time, the traces of the past of the first status quo and the shadow of the second status quo, and the "moving image" seems to be in front of the eyes.
Rodin believed that "movement" was the truth of the universe, and that only "motion" could represent life, spirit, and the incredible things hidden behind nature. This is Rodin's worldview and artistic outlook.
The artist wants to imitate nature, not to really portray the superficial form of nature, but to directly experience the spirit of nature, to feel that nature relies on matter to express the process of all phases, and then with his own spirit, ideal emotions, and sensory will, he injects into the material to make all forms and make the material spiritual. (Personally, I think it is very instructive of photography.) ）
"Nature" is the great artist; the artist is a "small nature". Art is the process of creation, the spiritualization of matter; the process of natural creation is the materialization of the spirit; the two are different from beginning to end, and their endings are the same as the harmony of the soul and the body, the unity of the mind and the object.
How can rodin achieve this kind of skill and realm? As if it were difficult, Elder Zong went on to introduce:
The world seen in the artist's eyes is different from that of ordinary people. Their vision should be deeper and more precise, and they should see not only the surface of natural life, but also the core of natural life. For example, artists can see that a person's face contains a person's past life history and the cultural trend of an era; they can see a flower, a stone, and a bay of spring water, all of which express a poetic soul there, and can describe this natural phenomenon and life phenomenon that are consistent with spirit and flesh.
Although rodin's eyes the universe is rich in species and has a variety of manners, it is a picture of the will in general; the life he sees, although it is undulating and tortuous, is a musical song of emotions.
The emotional will, the truth of nature, manifests itself as movement.
After reading this article, I finally understand why some photos (mid-October 2021) are called "photos" and some are called "photographs". Excellent "photography works" must not only have a story, but also have a life, which should be regarded as art! Personal feelings, welcome to shoot bricks, corrections, supplements.