策展人 海杰
自上世纪90年代中期开始，中国当代摄影以“观念摄影”为表述的创作和展览实践促动了摄影生态改变的开始，其时，艺术家的行为表达与摄影的携手变得普遍又显著，而现实的戏剧化排演也获得了更大的发挥空间。从某种程度上说，后来世纪之交的中国当代摄影在语言层面展开了开放性的出场和审视。2000年以后涌现的一批艺术家也相继展开了自己在执导型摄影领域的丰富实践。
而自新世纪第一个十年以来，针对摄影在体制实践和特殊历史中的使用情况，不断有艺术家展开对于摄影在历史与现实当中的所承担的意义的揭面与重新认识，因而使用档案图像等现成品图像再创作也成为一些艺术家的主要实践，也出现了不少有影响力的作品。而对于屏幕作为生存空间和新的现实的关注和思考，使部分艺术家展开了图像、屏幕、身份、图像生产及网络关系等方面的分层实践。
照片作为现实的戏剧，或者照片作为历史的证据，既展示着媒介的空间，也释放着话语空间的游离气息。
本次展览参展的18位（组）艺术家，正是活跃在2000年以后开放的摄影实践之中，他们的创作既不设置媒介壁垒，也能在图像的辐射区，就历史与当下，做出回应。
而展览的命名“分层与合成”，衍生自Photoshop软件里常用的两个处理图像的动作“分离图层”与“合并图层”，用以表述当代摄影在近20年来的转向和实践。分层指代摄影的裂变，包括以档案、家庭相册、图像叙事、屏幕采集、文本等多媒介构成的图像协作，这既是对于图像与权力的关系和肌理透析，又是历史图像的蒙太奇与援引，也是图像在屏幕空间里的身份展演和基因考古。而合成则呈现出相反的动作，以现实为蓝本，通过设置剧情、进行布景、综合排演、行为表达，形成一套既关乎摄影本身，又携带着强烈的问题意识，进行现实隐喻的集合景观。
Foreword
Curator Haijie
Chinese contemporary photography has promoted the beginning of the change of photography with the creations and exhibitions of "Conceptual Photography" since the mid-1990s, at that time, the collaboration between the artist's behavioral expression and photography became common and significant, and the dramatic rehearsal of reality also gained more space to play. To some extent, Chinese contemporary photography after this time showed openness and examination at the language level. A group of artists after 2000 have also participated a lot in directing-oriented photography consecutively.
Since the first decade of the new century, in view of the use of photography in institutional practice and special history, artists have continued to expose and re-understand the significance of photography in history and reality. Therefore, the use of ready-made images recreation, such as archive images, has also become the main practice of some artists, and many influential works have appeared. Attention and reflection to the screen as a living space and new reality has motivated artists' creations on stratification practices in image, screen, identity, image production, and network relations.
Photos as realistic dramas or historical evidence, display the intermediary space as well as the nomadic sense of discourse space.
The 18 artists (groups) participating in this exhibition are active in the practice of photography that has been open since 2000. Their creations set up no media barriers, but echo to the past and present by the information within there.
"Stratification and Synthesis" are two common actions in Photoshop software which used as the name here is to describe the change and practice of contemporary photography in the past 20 years. Stratification refers to the fission of photography, including image collaboration composed of multiple media such as archives, family albums, image narratives, screen captures, texts, etc. This is not only a texture analysis between the relationship of images and power, but also a montage and citation of historical images, as well as an identity exhibition and genetic archaeology of images in screen space. Synthesis shows the opposite direction. Based on reality, by setting the plot, scene, comprehensive rehearsal, and behavioral expression, it forms a set of landscapes that are not only related to the photography but also carry a strong consciousness of problems to synthesize the metaphors of reality.