Cliché, to many photographers this is a dirty word. Photographs of Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, the Tetons from Ox Bow Bend, the Watchman in Zion from the bridge, Delicate Arch – all are considered by many to be clichés.
What exactly is a cliché? Something that has lost its originality, ingenuity, impact from long overuse. In other words, it’s been done before – and many times. Some have gone so far as to suggest that there are no photographs left in Yosemite Valley that are not clichés.
Not all of us agree.
I denied myself the pleasure of doing the sunset shoot of the Watchman in Zion from the bridge for many years because I saw the photographers elbow to elbow, tripod leg to tripod leg and thought it was to trite, to common. In fact there’s a photograph of the bridge scene in the Zion administrative building that makes just that comment – about so called ‘creativity.’
But a couple of years ago I relented and shot it and I’m glad I did. For one thing, there’s a wonderful camaraderie there amongst photographers of all skill levels and from all over the world. But even more importantly we’re out there doing what we love to do – photographing a beautiful sunset in an exquisite location.
But apart from the experience, are all the popular photographs now clichés? Well, if taking the same shot again and again by hundreds and thousands of photographers constitutes a cliché then that begs a parallel question.
Why do conductors still record Tchaikovsky symphonies. These are some of the best loved, most recorded symphonies in the classical repertoire. So aren’t all new recordings clichés because they’ve been done so many times before?
But we know the answer to this question already. They are not clichés because the conductor applies his own interpretation to work. Each of the major conductors delivers a totally different experience because not only does the personality of the composer come through but so does that of the conductor. And the orchestra.
As photographers we have the opportunity to apply our own interpretations to our images, interpretations that are original, individual and personal. We can stand elbow to elbow, tripod leg to tripod leg with other photographers all sharing the same experience and still produce an original work of art.
We do that by developing a rich creative vocabulary with which we express ourselves through our photography. And with that creative vocabulary we each share with our audience our personal view of the world.
I’d like to think that the photograph that came out of that session on the bridge in Zion with, oh, probably 20 to 25 other photographers is unlike anything that any of them produced. Why? Because it says what I wanted it to say.
So, are there cliché photographs? There don’t have to be.
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Hear, hear! I agree with you, and this is something I have felt for some time. I am also glad I shot from the bridge in Zion at sunset. 🙂
Thanks Velvet. And to make things even better, that is my best selling photograph – by far.