Although I have been working for several years, I still can't hold back my pursuit of photography, and finally chose to go to LCC to pursue the ideal art and take the art of photography to the extreme!
Returning to China as an education tutor, he and his students go to their dreams in both directions in teaching, and the students enter famous schools, and they have become excellent education tutors in the future!
Let's go into this interview with the mentor together.
Mr. Zhao's dry goods share the world!
The mentor said
Teacher Zhao x Xiaomei
I wanted to pursue my ideal art, so I chose to study photography in the UK.
Xiaomei: How did you get into photography?
Mr. Zhao:
When I was in college, I came across Robert Frank's "American" and felt that it was completely different from the photography I was exposed to. After graduating and working in graphic design for a few years, I still wanted to pursue my dream art, so I chose to go to the UK to further study photography and art.
Mr. Zhao:While I pass on the ideas of the project to the students, I also gain new ideas from the students.
Xiaomei: What was the biggest change from a photographer to an international education instructor? Or what are the gains?
Mr. Zhao:
It's more of a shift from a creator to a professor, and being a professor is not just about completing a project, but about imparting the idea of the project to the students. Interestingly, I get new ideas from students from different backgrounds, because communication is a two-way street.
Mr. Zhao's work.
Photography is not a mechanical record, it is a dynamic way of creation, and the photographic technique is not the most critical, the most important thing is the ideas and ideas.
Xiaomei: What is your usual class style? What is the teaching philosophy?
Mr. Zhao:
I am happy to chat with students and guide them to think for themselves, photography is a very open medium, and any subject and medium can be tried.
Mr. Zhao's work.
Photography is not a mechanical record, it is a dynamic way of creation, and the photographic technique is not the most critical, the most important thing is the ideas and ideas.
Xiaomei: What are your unforgettable experiences and feelings during your study and life?
Mr. Zhao:
LCC of Lunyi is for meSerious and livelyYes, mentors don't limit the topics you choose, even though we specialize in journalism and documentary, they encourage us to explore how we think as artists. They focus on how you can better express your ideasTherefore, in the expression of the theme, the tutor will encourage (force) the students to think, "why", "how", "how to do it".
Mr. Zhao:What impressed me wasLondon's artistic sceneThere are many large and small art galleries and galleries in London, and these art museums can maintain a relatively pure art atmosphere regardless of their size, which is very rare compared to China.
Photographers need to be perceptivewithGood aesthetics, as well as knowledge of a variety of different artistic fields.
Xiaomei: What abilities should you have to become a photographer? At a certain stage of development, how can I improve myself?
Mr. Zhao:
For me,Keen insightwithGood aestheticsOf course it's key, but today's photography often requires a fusion of different mediums and subjects, hence masteryKnowledge of a variety of different fields of art is also very important, installation art, moving images, different materials and media, literary and philosophical theories, the accumulation of these knowledge will be reflected in the expression of an artist's work.
Mr. Zhao's work.
Xiaomei: What do you think are the most prominent aspects of Chinese and foreign college students? And where is the necessary knowledge and training lacking?
Mr. Zhao:
In fact, there is not much difference between domestic and foreign students in terms of photography skills, and even some domestic students will be better in professional skills and picture expressionAnd the big difference, in my opinion, isMindset and creativityon。Foreign students often have a lot of whimsical or even unrealistic ideas when making works, while domestic students sometimes seem to be constrained and don't know where to start in the relatively free field, which requires a change in the way of thinking.
It is not very difficult to change majors in undergraduates, mainly because of the change of thinking.
Xiaomei: How do you prepare a photography portfolio? Is it difficult to apply for graduate school by changing undergraduate majors?
Mr. Zhao:
To make a set of photography portfolios, it is more important to establish the theme in the early stage, and in the middle stage, it is necessary to establish the direction, technique and style of the work through research and attempts, and the final step is to implement it.
The general direction of photography includes fine arts, fashion and documentary, but in fact, there are more subdivisions, such as the study of urban culture, philosophy and practice, anthropology, electronic images and other different directions, in general, photography is a very open discipline.
Source: LCC official website.
The main difficulty lies in the change of thinking, how to prepare a complete set of photography projects, which is still very different from the daily "scattered" shooting, and usually with a complete concept to try and accumulate materials.
In teaching, I will guide students to start with themselves, and make them think about the establishment of topics and concepts through chats and conversations.
Xiaomei: What are the common problems that students have when making portfolios? How is it channeled?
Mr. Zhao:
The focus is still on the difficulty of establishing themes and concepts, and students may still be accustomed to the feeling of being arranged to complete tasks, but when making a portfolio, students' independent thinking ability and subjective initiative are more important, because in the final analysis, a work of art is a creative work.
Source: LCC official website.
I will guide students to start with themselves and get them to think through chats and conversations, what are the topics that interest and concern you, and how to deepen the topics. I think the most important thing is the ability of students to think independently, and with this ability, they will continue to create.
Xiaomei: Do you have any advice for students studying this major?
Mr. Zhao:
See more, think more, do more.
You can start with classic photography projects, and refer to the ideas and techniques of the masters, starting from imitation.