Politics,Propaganda And Photography

Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial, as the first large-scale photographic pictorial, was born in the CCP Jin-Cha-Ji (i. e. Shanxi province, Chahar province and Hebei province) base area in the period of Anti-Japanese War. The first photographers and the first news photo agency in CCP were born in the Jin-Cha-Ji base area too. The photographic publications including Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial, Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial Collection and Chin-Cha-Chi Illustrated Newspaper as the media platform, promoted powerfully the development of Jin-Cha-Ji photographic activity at photographic creation, talents training, organizational construction, pictorial publishing, photographic theory construction and had made a series of achievements. The Jin-Cha-Ji photography not only played a role as the propaganda weapon, but also laid the foundation in the organization, personnel and idea in the photographic system for the PRC.In this paper, Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial and related photographic publications was the main study object. The paper examines the complicated relationship between the photography, politics and propaganda in the wartime system in the CCP base area, and analyses the achievements, influence and historical limitations of the Jin-Cha-Ji photography and Publishing activities. The paper dissects the photographic work and the photographic ideas of the famous photographer Sha Fei, who was the founder of Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial, and explores the interactional relationship between the specific times and the individual fate.The first chapter reviews the birth process of Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial, and reveals three factors which affected the photography publishing:material, technology and personnel. Through the analysis of pictorial content and composition, the paper points out the propagandistic nature of Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial, and takes the "Chairman Mao’s image" as example to analyze the political factors in image communication. Furthermore, three categories pictorials(Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial, Chin-Cha-Chi Illustrated Newspaper and Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial Collection) were introduced briefly, and a comparative study on their characteristics was carry out.The second chapter investigates three important factors in image production in the wartime:photography idea, organization and personnel and material conditions. At first, the paper pointed out that the "theory of photography as weapons" is the fundamental idea in image production in the base area, which would lead to the creation trend of political first, and result in the controversy in the way of the shooting picture and in the authenticity of press photography. Secondly, the paper through the study of photographic talents training and photographic network construction, points out that the photographic system has significant influence on photographic subject and style. Finally, this chapter emphasizes that material conditions and subjective awareness restrict image production.In the third chapter, after investigating the communication channel of the pictorial and photography in the Jin-Cha-Ji base area, the paper focuses on the image construction of Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial and the war mobilization function Chin-Cha-Chi Illustrated Newspaper. The paper summarizes that Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial constructs a "Invincible, Political Democracy and Active Life" image of the Anti-Japanese base area through the selective image on war, democracy and everyday life in the Jin-Cha-Ji base area. In the civil war time, Chin-Cha-Chi Illustrated Newspaper focuses on the war mobilization, and the image style becomes increasingly patternization. However, the journal’s layout has gradually become more mature.The fourth chapter summarizes the historical contribution of the Chin-Cha-Chi Pictorial according to the historical perspective, and analyzes the influence and limitations of revolutionary image narrative. The chapter points out that the photographer Sha Fei has a contradiction between his photographic practice and idea. The contradiction reflects his insistence on "authenticity" idea in press photography.