By: Band-Age

Journalist A: Hello, Qiyue Zhang. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview with us. Today, we would like to discuss your insights into the art of photography, especially your understanding of Robert Adams’ works and your creative concepts.

Qiyue Zhang: Hello, it’s an honor to have this opportunity to share my thoughts with everyone.

Journalist A: First, we want to know how you came across Robert Adams’ works. What do you like about his works?

Qiyue Zhang: During my in-depth exploration of photography, I have always been committed to tracing the development of photographic genres. When I came into contact with the New Topographics genre, the works of Robert Adams immediately caught my eye. His works are uniquely charming to me. The images in his albums often contain strange and disturbing elements. It is like a lens without a subjective gaze, presenting a kind of heterogeneity, as if a new eyeball was born outside the eyes. And from those silent and dull architectural landscapes, some indescribable thoughts seem to be glimpsed. With unique scrutiny, although his expression is not subjective in form, it is enough to make those things that are not beautiful in appearance but crucial standout. At the same time, some people think his photos are as precise as a surgeon’s scalpel, without any exaggeration, while others can find unusual power in them. These characteristics all make me deeply fond of his works.

Journalist A: What important ideas do you think Robert Adams’ works convey?

Qiyue Zhang: His works convey many profound ideas. From the perspective of the environment and society, his works focus on key areas such as deforestation, environmental destruction, rivers and water resources, wilderness, and protected areas. He is not only recording the surface phenomena but is more like a perceptive sociologist, digging deeper into the hidden social, economic, and power dynamics behind them. For example, in the scene of deforestation, we can see that behind it is the drive of economic interests and the game of power. In pursuit of profits, some governments or enterprises rely on their own power and resource advantages to overexploit forest resources, while local communities and the environment bear a heavy price. At the same time, his works also reflect the environmental destruction brought about by the development model of some industries in the contemporary economic system at the expense of the environment, calling on us to rethink the balance between economic development and environmental protection.

From a philosophical level, his works reveal the operation mechanism of power in environmental issues, embodying the omnipresence of power and its penetration into all aspects of social life. In the environmental field, this kind of power is manifested as the control and decision-making power of enterprises and governments over natural resources, resulting in ecological destruction and the loss of the right to environmental protection for vulnerable groups. In addition, his works deconstruct the traditional anthropocentric concept, making us realize that nature is an independent subject with its value and rights and is not an object for human beings to demand arbitrarily. Moreover, his works provide a new form of knowledge about the relationship between nature and human beings, breaking our inherent understanding of nature and prompting us to reconstruct the knowledge about the relationship between nature and human beings.

Journalist A: You have conducted in-depth research on Robert Adams’ works. So, how have his works influenced your creation?

Qiyue Zhang: His works have influenced my creation in all aspects. In terms of theme selection, inspired by him, I pay more attention to social and environmental issues, especially those overlooked environmental destruction phenomena and the underlying social contradictions. I reveal these problems through my work and arouse social attention. In terms of expression techniques, I learned from his objective and calm shooting style to avoid excessive emotional rendering and make the works more persuasive. I also pay attention to capturing details and showing the seriousness of environmental problems through details. Regarding ideological concepts, his works prompt me to think more deeply about the relationship between human beings and nature and examine this issue from multiple perspectives. My works can also have profound ideological connotations and social influence like Robert Adams’.

Journalist A: We understand that you are not only influenced by Robert Adams but also integrate your love for the Italian opera “Rigoletto” into your photographic ideas. Can you talk about this?

Qiyue Zhang: “Rigoletto” profoundly influences my photographic creation. The hypocrisy, corruption, and abuse of power in the court society are similar to the revelation of social power structures and environmental problems in Robert Adams’ works. This similarity prompts me to pay attention to social injustice and contradiction phenomena in photography, whether it is the power game behind environmental destruction or social class differences. They all try to reveal the essence and arouse thinking through different forms of work. At the same time, the complex emotions and human struggles of the protagonist Rigoletto in “Rigoletto” align with the indescribable thoughts glimpsed from the architectural landscapes in Robert Adams’ works. I draw on this emotional tension and human complexity to convey the emotional story behind the picture by depicting the expressions, postures, and body language of the characters and creating an environmental atmosphere. Combined with Robert Adams’ objective and calm shooting style, I avoid excessive emotional rendering to make the work more persuasive. In addition, the rhythmic sense and emotional rendering power of the music in “Rigoletto” also inspire my photographic creation. I integrate this inspiration into the lighting and composition of my own works. Just like Robert Adams highlights important things through a unique way of scrutiny, I create a dramatic yet realistic visual experience through the combination of light intensity, color contrast, and the arrangement of picture elements so that the audience can feel the emotional atmosphere of the picture. At the same time, the picture can tell the story contained in it from the inside out.

Journalist A: I heard that you have also photographed a very distinctive art portfolio. Can you introduce it to us?

Qiyue Zhang: The “Dream” series of art photos I photographed are the creative results under the influence of the above-mentioned various factors, integrating the ideas of Robert Adams’ works, the artistic charm of “Rigoletto” and my exploration of traditional culture and philosophy. The Chinese women in the pictures wear gorgeous costumes of women in the Tang Dynasty, which carry rich cultural connotations. Similar to Robert Adams’ exploration of themes such as the environment and the display of court culture in “Rigoletto”, they all reflect the focus on specific cultural themes. Through this, I want to explore the inheritance and evolution of traditional culture in modern society and the status and thoughts of women’s roles. In terms of expression techniques, I have learned from Robert Adams’ objective and calm shooting style and paid attention to capturing details, such as the patterns of the costumes and the expressions and postures of the women, to show the complexity and depth of the theme. At the same time, I have drawn on the rhythm and emotional processing methods of the music in “Rigoletto” and created a dreamlike atmosphere through lighting and composition. The combination of soft light and light colors presents an illusory beauty, which is not only an attempt to provide a poetic interpretation of traditional culture but also an attempt to arouse the viewers’ thinking about the relationship between reality and dreams, truth and illusion. Like the story of Zhuangzi’s Dream of a Butterfly, I try to give the audience a sense of confusion and a curious desire to explore their world after viewing the works.

Journalist A: Thank you very much for sharing so many insights into the art of photography and your creative concepts with us today. I hope you can continue to create more excellent works in the field of photographic art.

Qiyue Zhang: Thank you. I will continue to work hard.

Published by Elle G.