The Value Of "Aesthetic Engagement" Incorporating Chinese Contemporary Documentary Photography

As a kind of photographic style and visual form,documentary photography has a diverse aspect from theory to practice.Documentary photography originated in the West and then spread to China.Because its development is closely associated with the characteristics of society and historical environment,it has now become one of the most influential photographic style in China.Different from the common research perspective of sociology or history in documentary photography,this paper takes the research of American philosopher Arnold Berleant as the basis to discuss the value of the theory of “Aesthetic Engagement”in Chinese documentary photography.This study claims that the theory of “Aesthetic Engagement” advocates the integration of aesthetic perception,and can break the limitation of “reality”and social significance in documentary photography,returning to the exploration of the ontology language and artistry of documentary photography.This paper takes the representative contemporary works of Chinese documentary photography as texts,analyzes the characteristics of “Aesthetic Engagement” integrated into Chinese documentary photography,and discusses the significance of the interaction between the photographer's aesthetic experience and the subject and the environment.In the context of “Aesthetic Engagement”,the value of the photographer as a “creator” is highlighted.This paper is divided into six parts.Other than the introduction and conclusion the main body is discussed in four chapters.The first chapter is the narrative and generalization of Arnold Berleant's “Aesthetic Engagement”theory,discussing the basic arguments and characteristics of "esthetic intervention".The second chapter is the history of the development of documentary photography in the West and the documentary photography in China.Based on the mutual comparison between the two,the paper analyzes the practical significance of integrating aesthetic acceptance into documentary photography.The third chapter is to enumerate the representative photographers and their works of contemporary Chinese documentary photography.According to the three characteristics of “Aesthetic Engagement”,the individual texts are analyzed and discussed.The fourth chapter is the future prospect of the integration of“Aesthetic Engagement” into Chinese documentary photography.