Sun Mingjing is the pioneer of modern Chinese film education and the pioneer of Chinese TV industry. From 1938 to 1945, Sun Mingjing moved westward to Sichuan due to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, and the southwest countries naturally became the theme of  his photography. At that time, there were many provinces such as Sichuan, Kang, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Tibet in the southwest. However, the academic circles at that time paid little attention to and researched on this area due to the remote location, the difficult roads, and the distribution of many ethnic minorities. Photography is not only an image recording medium, but also an important image-building tool. A history of photography is also a history of visual viewing and image changes. The author tries to sort out Sun Mingjing’s Southwest photographic works, compare his photographic works with other works of similar themes in the same period, and study Sun Mingjing’s photography investigation of landscape, geography, ethnic minorities and people’s livelihood, in which way a glimpse of the social phenomenon in ethnic minority areas in modern Southwest China can be viewed from those real images, and we can explore the scientific, national and aesthetic approach to appreciate his works.

Chen Can, Yang Xinyue. Southwest Cinematography: The Scientific, Ethnic and Aesthetic Nature of Sun Mingjing’s Frontier Photographic Perspective. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2023) Vol. 6, Issue 7: 79-86. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2023.060714.

[1] Shi Xingqing. (2014) Research on Educational Movies in the Republic of China: A Case Study of Sun Mingjing. Communication University of China Press, 71-77.

[2] Yu Ji. (2011) The historical significance and role of Sun Mingjing's educational film activities within the perspective of cinema in the rear area. Art 100, 27 (06), 139-142+138.

[3] Zhang Tongdao, Zhu Ying. (2006) Sun Mingjing and Grierson: Concept, Theory and Practice. Film Art, 2, 68-73.

[4] Lv Yan, Zhang Huiqing. (2015) Visual View of Cultural Modernity--Third Century Photography in Tibetan areas in the 1940s. Beijing Social Sciences, 1, 110-117.

[5] Sun Mingjing. (1937) The Production of Educational Films. Science Education (Nanjing), 4(2), 16-22.

[6] Sun Mingjing. (1944) Audio-visual education and Xikang Construction. Movies and Broadcasting, 3(7-8), 23-26.

[7] Sun Jiansan. (2018) Sun Mingjing’s Documentary Photography Research. I. 1938: From Chongqing to Zigong. Zhejiang Photography Press, 110-113, 115-117, 189+195+202, 47+168, 70+72, 87+93, 94+98+151, 155+172, 236+239.

[8] Sun Jianqiu, Sun Jianhe. (2013) Sun Mingjing's Notes: People's Realistic Livelihood in the Southwest Provinces in the Early Anti-Japanese War. World Book Publishing Company Beijing Company, 67, 71, 199.

[9] Sun Jiansan. (2018) Sun Mingjing Documentary Photography Research. III.193: Leibo, Mabian, Pingshan, Ebian. Zhejiang Photography Press, 92, 72, 16, 60, 51+52+54, 88+158.

[10] Sun Jiansan. (2018) Sun Mingjing’s Documentary Photography Research. II. 1938: From Emei to Leshan. Zhejiang Photography Press, 39+50, 132.

[11] Zhuang Xueben. (2007) QiangRong Investigation Notes. Sichuan Nationalities Publishing House, 2007:5+8+30, 41.

[12] Zhuang Xueben. (2014) Zhuang Xueben's Tibetan Photographic Works. Tongji University Press, 112.

[13] Nicholas Mirzoeff. (1999) An Introduction to Visual Culture. Routledge, 22.

[14] Pan Wanli. (2021) The way of viewing to shape the image of the Chinese nation—Research on early ethnic photography in western China. Journal of Minzu University of China (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 48(04), 48-58.

[15] Geil, William Edgar. (2013) Eighteen Capitals of China. Guangxi Normal University Press, 108+126.

[16] Luther Knight, Wang Yulong. (2009) The Vanishing Heavenly Country: American Teacher Luther Naed’s Photography Collection of Works 1910～1913. Guangxi Normal University Press, 35.

[17] Demu Wangjiu Dorje. (2005) Eyes on the Snow: Tibet in the Eyes of Father and Son Photographers 1925-2005. China Tibetology Press, 21+49. 

[18] Sun Jianqiu, Sun Jianhe. (2016) Sun Mingjing Xikang Notes. 1939&1944. China National Photography Art Publishing House, 17-18, 241, 297, 203+217, 91, 251-252.

[19] Sun Jianqiu, Sun Jianhe. (2013) Sun Mingjing Notes: Realism of People's Livelihood in Southwest Provinces in the Early Anti-Japanese War. World Book Publishing Company Beijing Company, 201.

[20] Sun Jiansan. (2017) Research on Sun Mingjing’s Documentary Photography.: Selected Videos. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Photography Press, 39-40.

[21] Sun Mingjing. (2014) 1939 Entering Ya’an. Cultural Relics Publishing House, 155.

[22] Sun Mingjing. (1947) What is a film. Film and Broadcasting, 5 (10), 251-252.