Camera and Photographic Techniques: Take a time travel to the era of black-and-white photos

【Editor’s Note: How long haven’t you seen an old paper photo? Curious about how a black-and-white photo is made by hand? In the laboratory of East Building at Zijingang Campus of Zhejiang University, there is such a fantastic class which not only imparts theoretical knowledge of camera and photography, but also brings students a time travel to the age of black-and-white photos. That is the course of Camera and Photographic Techniques, lectured by Prof. LI Qi from ZJU’s College of Optical Science and Engineering.】

Integration of techniques and artistry

Shooting is by no means a soulless labor of operating camera, for a soul should be found in a remarkable work of photography. To create such prominent works, the course aims not only to refine students’ operational skills, but also to improve students’ aesthetic ability.

To integrate techniques more closely with artistry, that’s the real end of this class. “The study of camera focuses on technical level, while photography, artistical. This course integrates the two fields with a clever course design,” introduced Prof. LI Qi. “We hinge less on professional knowledge but more on the basics, and in this way, we prioritize the popularization of elementals of camera and photography,” he added.  

Practice under the guidance of theory

After learning the technical methods of photography, students are required to practice the photography by themselves, trying to seize the beauty in the surroundings. The experiment of enlarging photo never fails to interest students. Conducting in the darkroom, students first select the appropriate negative, project the negative pattern through the enlarger to the photosensitive paper for exposure, and then immediately develop the paper into the developer and stop-developer. After all these operations conducted with attention, a complete black-and-white photo is revived.

“Nowadays, there are few opportunities to use film negatives, let alone operate the enlarger in the darkroom,” said SUN Yuan, an undergraduate from College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science. “Turning the photo paper into clear black-and-white photo through my operation, that’s quite interesting,” said Sun with a sense of achievement.

“Practice after a primary grasp of the photographic history, my understanding of photography deepens. I began to ponder why I shoot, what I want to express through the photos,” told WANG Yu, an undergraduate in Chu Kochen Honors College.

Photos taken by students

Innovation connecting past and future

Speaking of the lecturer of this class, Prof. Li introduced that he has been the fifth since its set-up. ZJU’s study on photographic mechanics can be traced to as early as 1957, and this course has spanned almost four decades. What runs through the long timespan is the unflagging spirit of innovation.

Innovative ability, inherited from the past, extends into the present and the future, ensuring the class to remain popular among students. “The technical content now we are using is still the classics of camera and photography, but the photographic equipment and skills have been renewed constantly with the technology development,” said Prof. Li. “For example, we inserted the section of ‘Comparison between SLR and mirrorless camera’ after the emergence of mirrorless camera; and we also added ‘Principle of mobile computing imaging’ with the popularization of smartphone photography,” continued Prof. Li.

The textbook edited by Prof. WANG Zhaoyuan of the College of Optical Science and Engineering

“I think it is precisely from the incessant renewals of the teaching content that this course gains its vigor and vitality. That’s what interests me most,” remarked YANG Shiyu, an undergraduate from College of Media and International Culture. 

Writer: PENG Jingyi

Translator: ZHANG Jinmei

Editor: TIAN Minjie

Photo credit: faculty members and students from the course of Camera and Photographic Techniques