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Most clichéd photographic themes

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Chrisku13

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I have seen many photographs on dpreview's forums (both excellent and not so excellent), and have gotten tired of looking at certain ones because of the fact that I feel like I've seen it a thousand times before. Now, mind you, I am no visionary artist who takes one of a kind photographs, but I try to think outside of the box and do things that you won't see in every one else's work. Is there a certain theme/subject/set up that you think is played out entirely too much?

For instance, my stupid signature. It's more of a parody of everyone else who has a photo of themselves taking a photo. Now those of you who have this in their signature, don't get defensive. Yours is probably better than everyone else's. :-)
--



Temporary signature until K100D arrives
 
Haha, that's good. I see that this Fresh Fun must be produced in California. If only it were that cheap here.
--



Temporary signature until K100D arrives
 
Any African Misery.
We Get It!!!
Africa is a dress rehersal for hell.
It aint our fault.
no amount of money is going to cure it!
--
Member of The Pet Rock Owners and Breeders Association
Boarding and Training at Reasonable Rates
Photons by the bag.
-----.....------

if I mock you, it may be well deserved.
 
drh681 said:
Any African Misery.
We Get It!!!
Africa is a dress rehersal for hell.
It aint our fault.
no amount of money is going to cure it!
--
Member of The Pet Rock Owners and Breeders Association
Boarding and Training at Reasonable Rates
Photons by the bag.
-----.....------

if I mock you, it may be well deserved.
Click to expand...
--

Any African Misery.....
Out of sight, out of mind? don't force yourself to watch it.

25 years as a freelancer,(news,magazine, wedding photography) camera equip. over the years: Practica MLT, Canon A1, Minolta 9xi, 7xi, Dimage Z1,Fuji 5200,Canon S2,Pentax K100D,Olympus 380(see my Z1 shots at http://www.photobucket.com ALBUM NAME: buckl the COMMUNITY album was done with the Z1, and most of the photos in the album:Other were w/the Z1)
 
Most cliched photographic theme has got to be Leica M8 owners constantly posting B&W photos of very boring subject, I mean, my God !!! these people paid £1000's of dollars for a camera that cannot take a decent colour picture ;-)

(BTW, leica owners, before you douse me in petrol and set fire to me, this is a joke)

Steve
 
things only go down hill. It has all been done before, to one degree or another. The only thing that matters is if you did justice to the potential of the shot and made it truly your own rendition of whatever you were attempting. There is nothing new under the sun.
 
Chrisku13 said:
I have seen many photographs on dpreview's forums (both excellent
and not so excellent), and have gotten tired of looking at certain
ones because of the fact that I feel like I've seen it a thousand
times before. Now, mind you, I am no visionary artist who takes one
of a kind photographs, but I try to think outside of the box and do
things that you won't see in every one else's work. Is there a
certain theme/subject/set up that you think is played out entirely
too much?
Click to expand...
Your signature contains the image of a human person. I have seen millions of humans before...

Perhaps some photographers are like hunters. No matter that the image has been shot before one only really 'owns' it once you shoot your own. So what if 10 million others also took a picture of a waterfall. I am like that. So are most tourists.
 
Ok, and if you're content with that, more power to you. But some of us are just a pain in the ass and wish to see things that have not been done by everyone else.

But you lost me in the hunting metaphor. I wouldn't compare someone's wish for artistic photography to that of the desire to kill animals.
--



Temporary signature until K100D arrives
 
Chrisku13 said:
For instance, my stupid signature. It's more of a parody of
everyone else who has a photo of themselves taking a photo. Now
those of you who have this in their signature, don't get defensive.
Yours is probably better than everyone else's. :-)
--



Temporary signature until K100D arrives
Click to expand...
Well... having a photo of you taking a photo isent bad. It shows the readers who their talking to
Bennystee-
 
I can't say TOO much!

In my defense, they usually are good traiing, at least that's what I tell myself!

But here is MY list of photos we could see less of without our civilization falling:
  • Moving water taken with long exposures so the water goes all fuzzy
  • B&W photos with one compositional element in color. (you should do this for your signature!)
  • Rocks
  • Dead Trees
  • Flowers
  • Old people with 'character'
  • 'Cute' Children
If you want more suggestions for cliches, just look at my portfolio!

--
Now that you've judged the quality of my typing, take a look at my photos. . .
http://www.photo.net/photos/GlenBarrington
 
There are two reasons I can think of for a type of image to become cliche.

One is because people buy them (think calendars and puppies).

The other is that once someone starts to actually think about photography as a means for creation (as opposed to capturing a memory with a snapshot), it's only natural at first to tend toward the kind of images you've seen and appreciated, as they provide perhaps some kind of internal benchmark. Since there are more people who pass through "beginning enthusiast" than "seasoned professional", you see a lot of the same kinds of stuff.

Cliche baby pic:



That kid is now 4 years old. I have 17,000 pictures of him. Would you like to see them all? :-)

Jeffrey

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffrey Friedl -- Kyoto, Japan -- http://regex.info/blog/
 
  • Selective color. I could die happy if I never see another mostly b&w picture with something colorized in it.
  • Closeups of crinkled faces of elderly middle eastern men.
Photo.net is great for this kind of thing ... someone posts something that gets rave reviews and you'll see copycats for the next few months (cows in a meadow shot up close with a wide angle lens ...)

I don't claim any great originality ... I practicied me-too nature photography up until my daughter came along and I got busy with me-too pictures of kids !
  • Dennis
--
Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com
 
blurry ducks, taken from their back-side at muddy pools in parks.

signed like: hey everybody, just bought my supazooom, what do you think?

I think - try to take swallow catching a fly.
 
Cats...I own two and would never post a pic of one. I mean..it's a fricken cat.

Children....everyone thinks they have the cutest kid in the world and thinks every image is magic. In reality they all pretty much look the same. And trust me...my kid is way better looking then yours and I don't post pics of her.

The "I just took a model shot of a beautiful girl" In reality...."Here is a pic of the local protitute...missing eye, gimpy leg and a cigarette"

The "My first shots with my Canon 5D" post. Wow dude that's a great underexposed image of your dog licking his butt!

Frickin test targets.
--
http://www.davidwinnert.com
 
I like "Where's Waldo" style images in which I can spend hours examining details. There are some famous classical oil paintings of this sort, e.g.,



; . However, I find it distressing that very few photographers share my aesthetic.
--
Author of SAR Image Processor and anomic sociopath
http://www.general-cathexis.com
 
Chrisku13,

On one hand I agree with you (if I understand your point)
that clichéd photos are (too) prevalent.

But, it seems to me that for people interested in learning
photography, one way to learn is to try to emulate popular
subjects. The good thing about clichés is that they're
easy to find so that I could compare a photo I've
taken with the cliché to see if I can at least do that 'right'.
Then, when I've learned enough to be able to shoot clichés,
I can begin to branch out into more complex subject matter.

Of course, this website is a gathering place for people learning
photography, so I would expect to see a lot of clichés and
imitation.

And, in the end, I suppose every photographer wants to take
unique photos, and have his/her own style, but one has to
start somewhere.

An analogy: A learning musician might first want to learn how to
play 'standards' that have been around for ages. Then branch
out into improvisation and composition, etc...

Anyway, I'm just proposing a theory for why there are so many
clichéd photos around. Maybe there's a simpler reason.

Bob
 
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