Aesthetics Of Photography Essay Research Paper Status — страница 7

fit into the film’s latitude. In this case, I should add a neutral density filter for compensation. The eyes, hair and skin of a White model is very reflective. In order to create a nice looking skin tone on the picture and avoid the red eyes effect, I should use off-camera flashing, or umbrella lighting. The above examples are simple ones for the convenience of illustration. I often encounter more complicated situations and have to consider many factors to predict what the picture will look like. Darkroom work, by the same principle, is also a work of previsualization backed by technical knowledge. There are two exceptions. A Hasselblad camera can attach to a Polaroid magazine. With this configuration, the photographer can take an instant picture to preview the possible

outcome of the image before he has used the print or slide film. Also, photographers who use a high-end digital camera can preview the just-taken picture on a LCD display. However, neither approach is popular. Aesthetics is not simply a judgment of beauty. As I mentioned before, the more control the artist has, the more respectable his work. Whereas technical information seems irrelevant to aesthetics, in fact it is important for us to judge whether the photograph is a work of control or a work of chance. It is a serious challenge for the artist when he/she cannot see what he/she is doing. ConclusionTo affirm the status of photography in fine arts should be accomplished by exploring its aesthetics rather than by only showing good photos. Neither constructing a universal theory of

art, nor applying pictoralism to proclaim that photography is like painting can help. The theory of Collingwood that art as emotion and imagination is the view from the audience, thus it fails to analyze the medium’s uniqueness. Combining the viewer’s and the artist’s standpoints is a more appropriate approach for the study of aesthetics of photography. Unlike the claim by Collingwood that imagination and thinking are mutually exclusive, Langer views art as an expression of the idea of emotion. This is certainly true. A photographer must start with knowledge or ideas. Besides the knowledge of emotions, s/he should also have the knowledge of world order and technical information. The former helps both the photographer and the viewer to take reality as a reference, while the

latter empowers the photographer to previsualize the image and lead the audience to the appreciation of the process. Bibliography Bell, Clive. (1921). Art. New York: Frederick Strokes. Berger, John and Mohr. (1982). Another Way of Telling. New York: Pantheon Books. Collingwood, R.G. (1964). Essays in the Philosophy of Art.Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Collingwood, R.G. (1950) The Principles of Art. Oxford: Clarendon. Barthes, Roland. (1981) Camera Lucids: Reflections on Photography. New York: Hill and Wang. Langer, Susanne. (1957a). Feeling and Form: A Theory of Art. New York: Scriber. Langer, Susanne. (1957b). Problems of Art: Ten Philosophical Lectures. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. Livingston, Kathryn. (1985). Special Effects Photography: The Art and Techniques

of Eight Modern Masters. New York: American Photographic Book. Middleton, David. (1997 April). Subdue These Ceativity Killers. Outdoor Photography, 13, 3, pp.44-47. National Musuem of Art/Aperture. (1994). Man Ray’s Man Ray. West Palm Beach, FL. Photographers’ Gallery. (1977). Reading Photography: Understanding the Aesthetics of Photography. New York: Pantheon Books. Public Broadcasting Services (2000, July 16). American Photography: A Century of Image. Alexandria, VA: The Author. Rosenblum, Naom. (1984) A World History of Photography. New York: Abbeville Scharf, Aaron. (1986). Art and Photography. New York: Penguin. Sontag, Susan. (1977). On Photography. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Sparshott, F.E.. (1965). The Structure of Aesthetics. Toronto: University of Toronto

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