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On the subject of cliches...

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Sherwood Botsford

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I spent an hour looking at articles about photographic cliches, and got depressed. If I took out everything that was a cliche, I'd be able to fit my portfolio on a floppy disk.

But none of the articles I saw gave me an alternative.

So, it's "Stand and deliver" time.

In your replies to this, I'd like to see:

A: Take anything off a list of cliches.

B: Post either a picture, or link to a picture of an image that you think illustrates the cliche.

C: A counter example of the same general description, but that ISN"T a cliche.

D: What you think makes it different.

Neither example nor counter example need to be shot by you.

Things that came up on more than one list of cliches

* Selfies

* Sunsets

* Rainbows

* Soft water (long exposure)

* Homeless guy

* Decay

* Railroad tracks

* Selective colour. (E.g. B&W shot that has a red rose.)

* Child with dirty face.

* Pet pix.

Do not feel constrained by this list. One list had 101 examples.
 
[No message]
 
Please add cats and dogs otherwise I will have to post 100 photos of my kangaroos.

add kangaroos as well ...
 
FrancoD said:
Please add cats and dogs otherwise I will have to post 100 photos of my kangaroos.

add kangaroos as well ...
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"pet pix"? near the bottom,
 
Sorry, I was looking for just cats and dogs then I stuffed that up by mentioning roos.
 
StIves said:
ormdig said:
FrancoD said:
Please add cats and dogs otherwise I will have to post 100 photos of my kangaroos.

add kangaroos as well ...
Click to expand...
"pet pix"? near the bottom,

--
Pete
Click to expand...
If you're from Australia, kangaroos may fall into a food photography category :)

--
A camera is "investment" only if you make money with it
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Ouch...



7a99520cfb2842cf8836840bed6bde9a.jpg

her name is Charlie. She is about twice as big now.
 
Sherwood Botsford said:
I spent an hour looking at articles about photographic cliches, and got depressed. If I took out everything that was a cliche, I'd be able to fit my portfolio on a floppy disk.
Click to expand...
There must be an issue with translation, cliche, from French cliché, meant when I was young a good picture, a negative film worth to be printed, why on earth would you want to take them out, or do you mean take them out of your drawers and show them to the world?

Well, I must admit that it took a sens of something that might have been interesting the first few time it was printed but has been printed too many time.
 
User8303410032 said:
Sherwood Botsford said:
I spent an hour looking at articles about photographic cliches, and got depressed. If I took out everything that was a cliche, I'd be able to fit my portfolio on a floppy disk.
Click to expand...
There must be an issue with translation, cliche, from French cliché, meant when I was young a good picture, a negative film worth to be printed, why on earth would you want to take them out, or do you mean take them out of your drawers and show them to the world?

Well, I must admit that it took a sens of something that might have been interesting the first few time it was printed but has been printed too many time. CQui "
Click to expand...
"A cliché or cliche (/ˈkliːʃeɪ/ or /klɪˈʃeɪ/) is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect"
 
Well, this is the internet, it's full of opinions and cliches, with very little proof......I equate it to the 'Truman Show' movie, for all I know non of you exist and my whole internet experience including these forums is being directed by some reality entertainment show! Mind you, my ebay parcel turned up so there must be someone out there?
 
It is just part of the human existence. King Solomon lamented thousands of years back in his writings in the book of Ecclesiastes.

"What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,

“See, this is new”?

It has been already

in the ages before us."

You may be happier if you just bypass the open forum; there is simply nothing new here! Our images are all just variations on something we have seen, our innovations progression of what we already have. Solomon has more eloquently said "yawn", just as someone posts here in the comments section for the each new innovation, usually after someone else is "blown away by the difference".

D
 
hikerdoc said:
It is just part of the human existence. King Solomon lamented thousands of years back in his writings in the book of Ecclesiastes.

"What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,

“See, this is new”?

It has been already

in the ages before us."

You may be happier if you just bypass the open forum; there is simply nothing new here! Our images are all just variations on something we have seen, our innovations progression of what we already have. Solomon has more eloquently said "yawn", just as someone posts here in the comments section for the each new innovation, usually after someone else is "blown away by the difference".

D
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Everything has already been done, everything is a cliché. But, why this need of standing out ? I mean, professional photographers compete with each other, however this on a commercial level, not on an artistic level. Should amateur photographers compete with each other ? And if so, why should it be with their originality rather than excellence ?

Creativity does not come out of nowhere. New ideas are often old ideas slightly modified, applied to a different context or combined with another old idea. Like a musician interprets a score in his own way or improvises from existing patterns, we can create something new from what was done before us. So I don't think the artistic progress is a dead end.
 
Anthelix said:
hikerdoc said:
It is just part of the human existence. King Solomon lamented thousands of years back in his writings in the book of Ecclesiastes.

"What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,

“See, this is new”?

It has been already

in the ages before us."

You may be happier if you just bypass the open forum; there is simply nothing new here! Our images are all just variations on something we have seen, our innovations progression of what we already have. Solomon has more eloquently said "yawn", just as someone posts here in the comments section for the each new innovation, usually after someone else is "blown away by the difference".

D
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Everything has already been done, everything is a cliché.
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"Everything has already been said, but not yet by everyone."

- Karl Valentin

(the quoting of which is itself a cliché)
 
Doesn't have to be from my list. Take a "Oh no, not another X" show us an example, and show us one you think is clearly X+

I have a hard time doing it. In some cases I like the cliche. In other cases I can't find a decent counter example.
 
I think you are right. What I was looking for was in effect what I'm asking for here: Bad and good versions.

In stories there are about 7 basic plots:
  • Boy meets girl (The romance)
  • Small group of stalwart people overcome major opposition. (The Heroic Quest)
  • Rags to Riches (and sports equivalents)
  • ...
You get the drift.

Ultimately, there is not a lot of originality in pictures.

Everything has been done before. Of course it has.

Go back to the Baroque period painters like Rembrant. Look at his portraits. Look at other portraits of the period. Can we say, "Cliche?"

So, there are a set of standard cliche's -- see list earlier, and please feel free to add to it.

Now, take a cliche and try to improve it, or at least add something different to it.

Approaches you can take:

Make a list of moods that are portrayed by images.

* Terror

* Despair

* Joy

* Funny

* Somber

* Gloomy

* Heroic

...

Look at pictures, and write down the first word, other than boring.

Take a cliche, take a mood. Come up with a shot.

Take the cute cat shot: Make it terrifying.

Take the child blowing bubbles shot: Add sinister menace.

Take the homeless crack addict on the street. Add hope.
 
Sherwood Botsford said:
Ultimately, there is not a lot of originality in pictures.

Everything has been done before. Of course it has.
Click to expand...
But we haven't all seen it all before, so it's new to someone ... often even new to the photographer. That's when it's best ... when someone is doing whatever the heck he wants with no regard for genres or cliches.
Sherwood Botsford said:
Now, take a cliche and try to improve it, or at least add something different to it.
Click to expand...
There's a book called "Use This If You Want To Take Great Photographs" that I spotted because it's an upcoming special on amazon. It's in diary form and offers suggestions like:

"Go somewhere really touristy and take non-touristy pictures"
"Take an ugly picture of something beautiful"

So does that mean that your suggestions for dealing with cliches are becoming cliches themselves ? Is the idea of a recursive spiral of cliches a cliche ?

Anyway, I'm not adding anything constructive here, but I'll take a look to see if someone else is doing better - it promises to be interesting. (I find little enough time to shoot what I want without adding in photographic exercises, but I'm sure it will be fun for those who do).

- Dennis
--
Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com
 
I climbed Portugal's highest mountain in July, Pico island. The 1st photo is the view that everybody snapped:



fb7f64d37be04e97a2964632ec2db4dc.jpg

This 2nd photo was more rare, it was the shadow of the mountain pointing to the full Moon setting:



5cee8205c33d4456bccd30f53ec2c75b.jpg

So:

1. Clichés are a good learning point, learn to do them well.

2. Then the next step is to become more creative, to learn to see and be prepared. Learn to see creatively.

3. Point #1 emphasizes technique, something that is easy to do with today's cameras. Point #2 emphasizes personal development, and is much more difficult.



--
www.paulobizarro.com
 
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