From "The Gaze of the Other" to "Empathy and Coexistence":A Study on
the Visual Politics and Ethics of Lu Chuan's Wildlife Images
Chen Ruijiao
(Lanzhou University of Arts and Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000)
Abstract: Director Lu Chuan's wildlife trilogy,"Kekexili"(2004),"Bom in China"(2016), and"Xiye"(2025), spanning two decades, conveys the evolving ideas of wildlife conservation indifferent periods through distinct genres and styles. The aesthetic style has transformed fromdocumentary aesthetics to poetic aesthetics and then to technological aesthetics; the ideologicalparadigm has evolved from anthropocentrism to a community of life and then to the independentlife of individual creatures; the ethical position has shifted from gazing to empathy andcoexistence. The essence of this transformation is a shift from the defensive sentimentality ofanthropocentrism, through emotional mobilization for ecological enlightenment, to a wisecoexistence in a post-human perspective.This deepening of ethics is not only a reflection of thedirector's personal artistic evolution but also a microcosm of the gradual deepening, refinement,and complexity of ecological consciousness in Chinese society within the realm of visual culture.These images not only document the trajectory of the modernization of ecological concepts inChina but also provide a unique Chinese sample and theoretical inspiration for the production ofecological images and the construction of ecological ethics in the era of globalization.
Key words:Lu Chuan; Wildlife Images; Ecocriticism; Visual Politics; Ethical Evolution
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