Has everything been done in photography?

Mainecoonmaniac · Dec 22, 2019

I’ve heard through out the years doing photography that “Everything has been done”. I’m sure most of you have heard it. Do any of you don’t believe it and try to make work that was never created. Or what I believe is that we stand on the shoulders of giants? Who’s shoulders you stand on?

BSP · Dec 22, 2019

...my life hasn't been documented yet...and that is what I do mostly.

removed account4 · Dec 22, 2019

IDK maybe, not sure why it matters ...
thing is everything might have been done, but not done by me
so i don't really care if its been done or not. not sure if that makes sense.

Pieter12 · Dec 22, 2019

What a philosophical rabbit-hole! Since photographs are captures of an instant of time, no two photograph can possibly be identical. Not everything has been photographed: there are places, perspectives and angles, light wavelengths, yet to be explored. Societal changes, people and creatures unborn, changes to the landscape (climate change!), events yet to happen. Of course much has been done and redone over and over again--that doesn't mean one can't or shouldn't try.

Vilk · Dec 22, 2019

Mainecoonmaniac said:
“Everything has been done”

so what?

scheimfluger_77 · Dec 22, 2019

“There is nothing new under the sun.”

But...

I’m kind of with jnantz on this one.

Mainecoonmaniac · Dec 22, 2019

Vilk said:
so what?

You’ll have to answer the question yourself.

Mainecoonmaniac · Dec 22, 2019

I do believe we stand on the shoulders of giants. Even today’s giants are inspired by photographers of the past. You could see influences of Bill Brandt Michael Kenna’s work and the influence of Arnold Newman on Gregory Heisler’s work. Photographers are also influenced by other artists outside of the photographic medium.

Vilk · Dec 22, 2019

Mainecoonmaniac said:
You’ll have to answer the question yourself.

that was the answer

Mainecoonmaniac · Dec 22, 2019

Vilk said:
that was the answer

Great! Life to me is never to have the answer. If one thinks he has the answer, the seeking stops and growth stops too.

Vilk · Dec 22, 2019

Mainecoonmaniac said:
Great! Life to me is never to have the answer. If one thinks he has the answer, the seeking stops and growth stops too.

ah, we got ourselves a paradox--an answer that proposes to continue seeking and growing regardless of what's been done

okee then, off to do some seeking--messrs taylor and fladgate won't take "hold on" for an answer...

good question tho' (it always bugged me why people keep making babies despite all babies obviously having been born)

will monitor thread with pleasure

removed account4 · Dec 22, 2019

might as well make it our rhymes. to hell with everyone else.

guangong · Dec 22, 2019

What is everything? Does “everything” really mean “everything” or only what has happened up to now. Does going beyond “everything “ mean some supposed innovation for the sole sake of innovation (usually for the sake of marketing). Most worthwhile innovation beyond the then existing “everything” came about through necessity to solve some kind of artistic problem and not for innovation just to be innovative. Who can say what, if any, the next innovation will be? The past is usually not a view into the future. As many in this thread have already remarked: who cares? Pity professional photographers who must compete in the marketplace. For the rest of us, we can do what we like with no restrictions other than our own limitations in technique and imagination, building on those that came before. Berenice Abbott noted that every shutter click recorded an instant that will never be again. Fleeting seconds don’t just happen with 35mm and MF, but also with LF. The scene one wanted suddenly passed because shadows changed, clouds moved, someone shifted posture, etc. Innovation is only important with regard to the pursuit; the pursuit, the quest for “the picture” provides our pleasure.

NB23 · Dec 23, 2019

Yes. But since I do own about ten 50mm lenses and ten 35mm lenses, what do I know?

Cholentpot · Dec 23, 2019

Pah!

If you have imagination and some creativity and loads of time you'll find something no-one has done.

This coming summer I'm going to try to attach an anamorphic projector lens to an Olympus Pen EE3 half frame using some Vision 3 500T cine film that's going to be cross processed in C-41 with a sous vide for temp control.

The sky isn't the limit for photography.

darkosaric · Dec 23, 2019

Nobody took a single photo in the year 2020 (yet). So we have a lot of things to do.
Even if you copy somebodies else work, like HCB, it will be different, and it will be yours. It is all a matter of perspective.

What one can ask himself is: Do I repeat myself? But even with that - the answer that Mr. David Lynch gave is great: "Future is always new, colored by past, but new".

railwayman3 · Dec 23, 2019

It really doesn't matter if everything's been done before (IMHO). My photography (and other hobbies) are done for my own enjoyment and relaxation, if the results please others or win the occasional photo club competition, that's a bonus.

MurrayMinchin · Dec 23, 2019

People have been writing for a while and making music even longer than that, so I don't think all the photographic possibilities are done just yet. I keep learning, and that's enough to keep me motivated.

Kino · Dec 23, 2019

Even if it's been done before, I get to try to experience it for myself; that's what counts.

As for standing on the shoulders of giants, I'd rather think of myself basking in their light...

Andrew O'Neill · Dec 23, 2019

Hasn't this thread been done before?

StepheKoontz · Dec 23, 2019

I guess that's why I try to think outside "my" box when I go out shooting, not to say I haven't been influenced by others. It's why I left digital for my creative work and started shooting B&W film again.

And no one has created these images before, this whole area of my city was drastically changed 12 months ago. I'll venture to guess I'm the first person to photograph the area with a 1936 leica IIIa with an uncoated summar 50mm f2. So no, everything has not been done before.

jtk · Dec 23, 2019

Mainecoonmaniac said:
I’ve heard through out the years doing photography that “Everything has been done”. I’m sure most of you have heard it. Do any of you don’t believe it and try to make work that was never created. Or what I believe is that we stand on the shoulders of giants? Who’s shoulders you stand on?

Photo is not some sort of conceptual domain any more than hammering is. Has everything already been hammered?

jtk · Dec 23, 2019

jtk said:
Photo is not some sort of conceptual domain any more than hammering is. Has everything already been hammered?

....
...and I don't "go out shooting"...I photograph when it's called for by ideas and circumstances. I went out and bought an "air plant" because I wanted a unique gift...I will shoot a series of macros on it, will make black and white high contrast, but I didn't "go out" for that purpose and the people who lent me visual shoulders we're only secondarily "photographers, much like Edward Weston who most importantly wrote about and shared the kind of life he lived.

Wallendo · Dec 23, 2019

Has every painting been painted? Has every book been written? Has every joke been told?

The world around us is constantly changing and objects are seen in new contexts. Hence there will be new photographs.

If the question really is, have all the basic techniques and schools of photography already been perfected, the the answer might be "yes", but various techniques or schools can be mixed together to form an near infinite variety. A musical scale only has 8 notes, but an unlimited number of compositions can be made.

KenS · Dec 23, 2019

NB23 said:
Yes. But since I do own about ten 50mm lenses and ten 35mm lenses, what do I know?

Invest in 'about' 18 more camera bodies???

Ken

Has everything been done in photography?

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