There’s a tendency in the photography world to dismiss work from popular locations, or of popular subjects, for the simple reason that “it’s been done before”. It also applies to photographic styles.
Truth is: everyone has borrowed, if not directly stolen, an idea from someone else. Perhaps even unconsciously! We don’t live in a vacuum, and we don’t create from a blank state.
Most locations on the planet have been photographed to death, most techniques have been used and applied millions of times, and there’s not much left to do when it comes to having a unique style. What are we to do? Should we give up on photography?
Absolutely not! The best way to be original with your photography is to stop trying. If you try too hard, you might become a contrarian: someone who avoids popular locations and subjects just for the sake of being different. But they’ve also fallen in the trap, still comparing their work to that of others, attaching a meaning to their images depending on what others do or don’t do.
We should only care about whether we are staying true to ourselves, photographing what means something to us, creating the images we enjoy looking at. If that means going to Yosemite, then so be it.
Never forget to appreciate who you are, though. There’s always an image to be made, no matter what you are doing and wherever you are. Don’t neglect your day to day life. Take advantage of what makes you unique, and make images every single day. In the long term, that is what will make your work original, unique, and true to yourself.
This is the way I see photography, not as a collection of isolated single images, but as a lifelong body of work, a lifelong adventure, a lifelong journey. Simply, a life.
This is my video of my trip to the magical forest of Fanal, in Madeira. I had one of the best times of my photography career there. What a beautiful place.
More videos I’ve published since last newsletter:
new images
Thank you so much for being there,
Adrian