Ecological Themes In Contemporary Photographic Practice From The Perspective Of The Anthropocene Study

In recent years,as modern society continues to develop and urbanization intensifies,the relationship between humans and nature has become increasingly contradictory and complex.Since the industrial revolution in the late eighteenth century,humans have changed from being one of many species to being a decisive force in the development of the Earth’s environment,causing tensions in the relationship between humans and non-human life and the living environment.As a result,the Earth has entered a new era-the Anthropocene-according to the internal geological community.Many complex issues such as how to live more harmoniously with nature,how to face the increasing deterioration of ecological environment,and how to deal with cyborg and post-human are becoming urgent issues around the world nowadays.Various disciplines have contributed their ideas.This paper hopes to introduce the interpretation of contemporary photographic practice through the vision opened by the Anthropocene and this ephemeral reflection,starting from the ecological thoughts of media theorist Mike Luhan and philosophers Latour and Gatali,combing the development of ecological aesthetic theories since the last century and the emergence of ecological art,focusing on the contemporary photography in the context of the Anthropocene in the creation of ecological themes In fact,since the inception of photography,we have been able to create a variety of ecological themes.In fact,the relationship between photography and nature has been very close since the birth of photography.The inventor of photography,Joseph Nicephor Niepce,took his first picture of a landscape outside a window;the most powerful tool for western plant hunters in exotic places was the camera in their hands;and the first photographic book in history was composed of a botanical album of seaweeds taken by British botanist Anna Atkins.Long before mankind entered industrial society,nature was scientifically integrated into the "landscape" and given sublime beauty on canvas and later on paper and the camera screen.Nowadays,landscape is a very important part of art history.Professor Mitchell of the University of Chicago advocated that landscape should be seen as a medium,a medium for the relationship between man and nature,which revolutionized the theoretical study of landscape.Thus,in the history of photography,landscape has always been a subject of attention,and photographers and imperial powers alike have been fond of photographing it,albeit for different purposes.From its early days as a tool for representing nature to its use by Western colonizers as a propaganda medium for power discourse and contemporary creators using photography to think about nature and ecosystems,the interaction between photography and nature is of great research value.In the ever-richer context of the Anthropocene,the creative landscape of artists using photography as a medium has taken on a richer form,showing their concern for nature and non-human and entire ecosystems in a variety of practices.First,artists use the camera as a tool for viewing and as a presence that embodies nature,expressing the strange side of nature.Secondly,some of the artists use their personal experiences or long-standing concerns to explore the relationship between humans and nature,using digital technology to construct images to explore ecological issues.Thirdly,other creators are in the wilderness,involving the natural environment,land,flora and fauna,creating works with a "de-anthropocentric" perspective that are equally subjective to non-humans,expanding the boundaries of contemporary photography on this topic.The opportunity of the Anthropocene discourse reminds us that the study of photography may take a new media turn,focusing more on the "materiality" of the medium and observing how artists deal with the process of energy manifestation and imaging,and that we need to link the medium more closely with other non-human actors.