Binary representations of finite fields are defined as an injective mapping from a finite field to l-tuples with components in ͕0, 1͖ where 0 and 1 are elements of the field itself. This permits one to study the algebraic complexity of a particular binary representation, i.e., the minimum number of additions and multiplications in the field needed to compute the binary representation. The two-way complexity of a binary representation is defined as the sum of the algebraic complexities of the binary representation and of its inverse mapping. Two particular binary representations are studied: the standard representation and the logarithmic representation. A method of surrogate computation is developed and used to deduce relationships between the algebraic complexities of certain functions. The standard representation of a finite field is shown to be among the two-way easiest representations of this field. In particular, the standard representation of a finite field with characteristic p is two-way easy whenever p Ϫ 1 has only small prime factors. For any finite field having a two-way easy binary representation, the algebraic complexity in this field is shown to be essentially equivalent to Boolean circuit complexity. For any finite field, the Boolean circuit complexity of Zech's (or Jacobi's) logarithm is shown to be closely related to the Boolean circuit complexity of the discrete logarithm problem that is used in public-key cryptography.