Special Course: A Theory Toolbox for Photographers

Looking and Interpreting Punctum & studium: What determines a photograph's emotional power? Moment: Is the decisive moment "captured" or "constructed"? Sublime: How can a photograph "overwhelm" us? Composition / structure: Why are some photos that look like "casual snapshots" called masterpieces? Semiotics / indexicality: Why do people believe photographs are more "real" than paintings? Representation: Why do different people photographing the same thing produce such different results?

刺点 & 知面（punctum & studium）

是什么决定了照片的情感力量？

瞬间（moment）

决定性瞬间，是“捕捉”还是“构造”？

崇高（sublime）

照片如何能够给人以“震撼”？

构图（composition）/ 构成（structure）

为什么有些照片看起来像“随手一拍”却被称为名作？

符号学（semiotics）/ 指示性（indexicality）

为什么人们会相信照片比绘画更“真实”？

再现（representation）

同样的东西，为什么不同人拍出来差别那么大？

Creative Motivations and Methods Documentality: Is documentary the same as truth? How can it be used to manipulate public opinion? Landscape: Tired of the "New Topographics kids"—what exactly are you fed up with? Rhetoric of the image: Why, photographing the same subject, is one image art photography and another a news photo? Identity: Is the "me" in my WeChat Moments photos really "me"? Photographic seeing: What exactly is the "photographic eye" we so often talk about? Everyday life and world: What in your own everyday life is worth looking at and photographing?

纪实性（documentality）

纪实就是真相吗？如何利用它来操控舆论？

景观（landscape）

对新地形少鬼审美疲劳，你在厌恶什么？

影像修辞（rhetoric）

拍摄同样对象，为什么有的是艺术摄影，有的是新闻照片？

身份（identity）

朋友圈照片中的“我”真的是“我”吗？

摄影式观看（photographic seeing）

我们常说的“摄影眼”到底是什么？

日常生活（everyday life）与世界（world）

自己的日常生活，有哪些被观看和拍摄的价值？

Editing, Display, and Curating Editorial control: What can images express when combined? Typology: What is the point of arranging similar photos in a "grid"? Tableau form: Are the "big photos" in the gallery just big in size? Material culture: Why do photographers always have the urge to make a physical photobook? Medium specificity: What is the fundamental difference between photography and painting, film, and AI-generated images? Curatorial strategies: What exactly does a curator do? Photographic archive: Are the you in your ID photo and the you in your selfie album the same person?

影像编辑（editorial control）

图像组合在一起，能表达什么？

类型学（typology）

“网格”式地排列相似的照片，有什么意义？

巨幅场面（tableau form）

在展厅里的“大照片”只是尺寸大吗？

物质文化（material culture）

为什么摄影师总有冲动做一本实体摄影集？

媒介特异性（medium specificity）

摄影与绘画、电影、AI 生成影像的根本区别是什么？

策展（curatorial strategies）

策展人到底是做什么的？

摄影档案（photographic archive）

证件照中的你和自拍相册中的你，是同一个人吗？

The History, Technology, and Cultural Impact of Photography History of photography: Why, after studying "the history of photography," do you no longer know how to shoot? Aura: What kind of photograph cannot be replaced? Memory: Why do old photos make the past seem beautiful? Gender / staging and performance: Are the women in photographs being "recorded" or "created"? Dataset: Now that AI has arrived, is photography "dead"? Social media: Why does a trip feel wasted if you don't take pictures? Cultural industry: Do seemingly cookie-cutter "check-in shots" have any value? Civil contract: Is looking at photographs merely a personal experience?

摄影史（history of photography）

为什么看完“摄影史”反而不会拍了？

光晕（Aura）

什么样的照片是无法被取代的？

记忆（memory）

为什么老照片会让人觉得过去很美好？

性别（gender）/ 摆拍与表演

照片中的女性，是在被“记录”还是在被“创造”？

数据集（dataset）

AI 出现之后，摄影“死”了吗？

社交媒体（social media）

为什么旅行的时候不拍照，就感觉白去了？

文化工业（cultural industry）

看起来千篇一律的“打卡照”有价值吗？

公民契约（civil contract）

看照片只是一种个人体验吗？