Embrace Your Perspective
There’s an idea that I have been kind of pondering on lately…
“There’s nothing new in photography”
I’ve heard this phrase come up in various corners of the community and I think it stems from a motivational standpoint or a standpoint of discouragement or doubt, and well, since this blog has become sort of a motivational blog (for my own case or yours, I can’t say yet), I’ve spent some time kicking this idea around in my head.
I think it’s mostly true…. but also, I think it’s mostly bullshit.
Think about the “usual” photo and I’d bet you can picture a few in your head. The ones that every photographer on IG has. Thinking Lawson market with Mt. Fuji in the background, that temple with the cherry blossoms in Japan. Literally anything in Iceland or Norway, or the Dolomites. The images we almost don’t want to take if we ever visit these places because everyone with a camera has this same image. You know what I mean, the “boring and cliche”.
But is it really the same? And would it make the image LESS somehow? It can feel that way sometimes but I will argue this….
The only thing that is guaranteed in life is change.
So if we take that at face value, no picture is ever the same. The composition might be the same. The subject might be the same. The location might be the same, etc… But the picture is never truly the same.
Clouds are never the same. A person’s face changes and ages. Cities grow and change. Buildings reflect light differently. No leaf on a tree is ever the same, no tree limb regrows identical once it’s felled, and no image of a flowing stream could ever be the same either. Think about those images where people have a camera in the same location for all 4 seasons, or a waterfall in summer/winter. Same subject, same composition, totally different, even if its the same season of a different year. Much has changed.
Even things I’ve photographed a million times from the same location might have a different feel based simply on how I was feeling in that moment, what music I was listening to (“Flow State”), or as drastically as a weather change, or as small as noticing a hole in some trees. Or like the image above and at the top of the screen, the capitol with The Tomb of The Forgotten Soldier at the base.
Street photography embraces this as pretty much it’s core concept, in my opinion. It’s basically just taking pictures of life on the street… same thing, yet always different. And sometimes breaking the rules garners as much interest as following them all.
Ever notice some of the photos that you get complimented on the most, are photos that you didn’t even think were all that good? And some of the photos you absolutely love, are maybe not so well received? You kinda never know sometimes. Maybe that photo you hate and everyone likes was actually a good idea, and your perspective changed once you got to editing it.
But this is YOUR perspective. It’s unique to only you, and it will almost never be the same either. Embrace it, and don’t fall into the trap of not photographing that thing that everyone else does because they just won’t see it the same way you do. You might move an inch to the left or right, up or down, and find something that others missed.
So take the “cliche” shots. Take the “boring” shots. Take the ones that you think might work but aren’t really sure of. You might find that others like your perspective even more than you do. What do you have to lose?
Until next week….