I recently visited Étretat, one of the most iconic locations on the coast of Normandy, France. A place thousands of photographers have captured in the past. And I only had a few hours there: my chances of making an image that would stand out from the crowd were very, very slim.
This is the dilemma we must confront whenever we go to a popular location. Unconsciously, we are being influenced by what has been done there before us, letting that dictate how we approach the place.
I believe it shouldn't be this way. I believe we should photograph those spots with the same curiosity we use in less famous and less glamorous locations, always in the lookout for something beautiful that catches our eye.
But of course, iconic locations are iconic for a reason. During my few hours at Étretat, most of the photographs I took were of the famous arch, because... well, it is what caught my eye! It is what makes the place feel special.
There's nothing wrong about taking the cliché photos everyone is taking. It might be more cliché to avoid taking them, actually!
Most importantly, by going to where photographers we admire have gone before, by putting ourselves in their shoes, we might see what they saw, feel what they felt, and better understand why they captured what they captured, and why they did it the way they did it.
And perhaps, after giving it a try ourselves, we might end up with an image that looks eerily similar to the other 1,000+ already made, but one that also shows a little bit of us, and our vision.
new images
Thank you so much for being there, talk to you next week!
Adrian
Stunning images! Thank you for sharing!
These images are so beautiful .... and even though we have seen so many pictures from these locations, I find your point of view very refreshing