The Conventionalization Of Photojournalism:the Analysis Of How Modern Chinese Press Accepts And Applies Photography

Since introduced into China,photography had been considered unorthodox and controversial.However,it established close relationship with newspapers and magazines in the 1920's and 1930's.Photojournalism became ingrained in the mind of every newspaperman from then on.How does photojournalism became normalized in Chinese press? This is the core and innovation of the article.This study covered the period from 1884 to 1937 for two reasons.Firstly,Dianshizhai Pictorial,which initiated the pictorial press of the late Qing Dynasty,was founded in 1884.Secondly,Chinese journalism went into trouble when the Anti-Japanese War broke out in 1937.This article was composed on the basis of collecting historical materials roundly.The study found that photography first played a grown important role in news transmission with its technical features,then got recognition and credibility from Chinese newspaperman.From there,photojournalism occupied its irreplaceable place both in theory and practice.Thanks to the pictorial press of the late Qing Dynasty,image enjoyed a higher status after twists and turns while Chinese newspaperman got the psychological basis to accept photograph.Meanwhile,documentary photography made it possible for photos to record current events.Though printing technology was limited,modern newspapermen still tried indirect methods to use photos: painters were told to draw from them,some photos were mounted on newspapers and so on.Photography became painters' reference and complements to written reports.After copperplate was introduced in Late-Qing and Early-Republican China,revolutionaries used photos as the accelerant frequently.Photography became the tool of propaganda and the weapon of revolutionary struggle.By the 1920's and 1930's,real progress was made.In practice,a lot of photographic supplements and pictorials were founded,professional photojournalists appeared,photojournalism was thought as a part of journalistic education.In theory,newspapermen accepted photojournalism for its authenticity,sensed presence and understandability.Professional standards for photojournalists were set.Academic research in higher education institutions was strengthened.Photojournalism as a kind of knowledge and profession received full accreditation finally.