The Aesthetics of the Lens: Art Photography and Renowned Photographers in Republican China

Photography was introduced to China in the mid-to-late 19th century. Its fusion with China's long and profound traditional art gave rise to "pictorial photography," a unique art form. These photographic works drew upon the aesthetic concepts of traditional Chinese painting, blending painterly intent and poetic sentiment through the lens, presenting a mood and charm akin to landscape and bird-and-flower paintings. In the 1920s and 1930s, pictorial photography flourished, with the emergence of a group of accomplished photographers such as Chen Wanli, Liu Bannong, Lang Jingshan, Lin Zecang, Lu Shifu, Wu Zhongxing, Wu Yinxian, and Zhang Yinquan. They used their lenses as brushes to reshape Eastern aesthetics in light and shadow. Based on rich and solid historical materials and 321 precious images, this book vividly outlines the unique style of pictorial photography in the 1920s and 1930s and showcases the creative journeys of the aforementioned photographers. The author focuses on the main thread of exploring nationalization and modernity, deeply analyzes how Chinese intellectuals accepted and transformed this Western visual medium, and systematically traces the rise, development, and evolution of pictorial photography in China. It clearly reveals the formation trajectory of its national style and aesthetic characteristics and its path to modern transformation. This book addresses the core question of how modern Chinese photography established its artistic subjectivity and cultural identity, and still holds significant启示 for contemporary Chinese photographic art.