Chinese classical aesthetics is historical and profound. During the long development process，it has formed its unique feature and a series of unique aesthetic propositions and categories with national spirit. As an important branch of Chinese classical aesthetic theory，artistic conception reflects the aesthetic consciousness of China. It is a poem with blended scenes and endless charm formed by the subjective emotion and objective things. The application of artistic conception in photography is aimed at forming a subjective attitude and evaluation from the relationship between the photographer and the world，infiltrating its strong subjective factors into the creation，and materializing it into art works and images so as to make the photography works have more aesthetic values. From the perspective of Chinese classical aesthetic theory，this article focuses on the necessary existence of "ideal"---the aesthetic element---in the development of contemporary Chinese photography.
　　1. The expressive meaning of artistic conception in contemporary photography
　　There are "image" and "realm" in the literary creation in the period from Three Kingdoms to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Tang Dynasty poets Wang Changling and Jiaoran put forward the theory of “taking the border”;The combination of character and the origin of heart has become a body of life. The kite is flying and exquisite---this is artistic conception in the center of all conceptions. Artistic conception is the unity of creation and source. " Superficially speaking，artistic conception is the result of the combination of natural scenes and subjective emotions. It is the unity of image and image and of emotion and scene. The development of this is along with the process of Chinese classical painting art，poetry and song culture. As a vital aesthetic standard of Chinese classical aesthetics，artistic conception not only reflects the wisdom and talent of traditional Chinese artists，but also reflects the charm and sacredness of Chinese classical art forms .
　　As a unique plastic art，inherent subjectivity of contemporary photography makes photographic art works reveal the creative characteristics of “ideal” and “conceptual” modeling. It takes the “ideal” in the traditional Chinese aesthetics to the "concept" of an art work by a creative technique，and is shown by images. Through the work，the objective image and the expressed subjective feelings are integrated into one，and the artistic realm beyond the body of the work is produced. At the beginning of photography in China，some people embraced the aesthetics of photography and many complex factors that influenced the creation into artistic conception theory，and incorporated the aesthetic feature of artistic conception into the practice. The "intention" of contemporary photography is different from the "ideal" pursued by traditional Chinese culture，but it is the essence and connotation of photography. 　　2. The expression of artistic conception in contemporary photography
　　（1）Photography art creation must keep pace with the times
　　The new era of Chinese culture and art has established a new aim. It calls on outstanding artists to open up an endless space of literary and art，focusing on the era of cultural development，which makes the contemporary photography aesthetics not only absorb nutrients from Chinese traditional aesthetics and enhances its artistic expression，but also must be deeply rooted in the social and cultural background and entirely show the integration of photographic works for multiculturalism. Contemporary photography creation should show the characteristics and requirements，project the inner spiritual temperament of the current era from a personal view，enhance the theme of the photographic picture，the aesthetic mood and artistic charm of the artistic work，and completely conveys the creator's emotions and aesthetic cognition to the viewers to achieve the perception beyond the picture of the work.
　　（2）Photography works should be integrated into the artist's personal aesthetics
　　Art work has a vital effect on the image of people's hearts. It brings people's spiritual touch and inner power through vivid ways. It uses unique techniques and expressions to make audience penetrate into it and has the function in all aspects of human’s daily life. The interpretation of artistic conception is not only to form works with aesthetic value of artistic conception，but also to improve the subjective artistic conception in the image through creation. Photographers should strengthen the combination of emotions with the sceneries they shoot，display personalized artistic styles through the pictures，and enhance the aesthetic mood and innovation of the pictures. Art works can not only pursue the control of light，composition and color，but also pay attention to the improvement of the aesthetic cognition and depth of thought of photographers，so that the limited image space of photography works contains unlimited possibilities and richness of image shaping ideological content.
　　3.Summary
　　In photography art creation，most of the expressions are subjective emotions，and the images they form are ultimately attributed to the artistic conception. While the society directs the innovation and development of the aesthetic category of "artistic conception" through the spiritual propositions put forward by the current era，making the photography artistic conception based on regular development and connection to the future. Chinese classical aesthetics is now "activated" to reflect the integration of traditional essence and modern culture. Under the trend of the times，photographic art emerged in the world with Chinese elements. The collision of tradition and modernity and the combination of nation and world created Chinese visual art.