I don't do...

[Jose A Martinez]

In November 1999 I attended to "The Expressive Print II", John Sexton's workshop. In that occasion I start joking with two fellow students, one from Argentina and another from Norway, about the endless samples of photos with Aspen Trees in it. So we decided to start a compilation of "cliches" or "common places", and started, childishly as: -I don't do Aspen Trees-, -I don't do Aspen Trees, or Calla Lilies-, etc.

So, there goes mine: I don't do Aspen Trees, Calla Lilies, Dogs, Slot Canyons, Transvestites. (sometimes I fall, and do some)

What you don't do?, it's about cliches.


ps. I don't consider "common place subjects" as something pejorative. The thing is that if you work with this kind of subject, you have to go beyond what has been done.

 

[blaze-on]

I don't do "I don't do's"...
(aka- "never say never"), cause you "never" know.

 

[ann]

just remember, at one time, none of these where a cliches

 

[Peter Schrager]

Don'ts

I don't do baby pictures or weddings-ever!
Peter

 

[eric]

I don't do...color? Well, maybe...sometimes....depends.
When I lived in NYC, I thought I was sooooo cool. I always put down those landscape and purty flower pictures. Now I live in SoCal and I don't like those street shots (so cliche, oh you got so much angst you must be an artist!) and I love serene landscape and purty flower shots

.....So...you never know.....your state of mind changes as you get older, errr, I mean, better...

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Cats.

 

[Flotsam]

Digital image capture.

 

[TPPhotog]

I don't do .... wait a minute yes I do, how about .... maybe sometimes, but definitely never shoot .... but if it's different I would.

Nope can't think of anything I don't do except weddings. But then if I was there as a guest I'd shoot reportage on it. Don't do don'ts just in case the opportunity for a cracker jumps in your lap

 

[SuzanneR]

I'll do anything!

Never a good idea to limit what you'll photograph.

 

[Jorge]

They become cliches because everybody does them just like the first few who tried them, or they are impossible to do any other way. A good example is the slot canyons, no matter how you picture them, all the prints are going to look about the same.

OTOH some pictures you just got to "get out of your system".....If I saw a nice stand of Aspen trees, I would take the pic, even knowing it has been done before.....of course they have never been done with the exquisite properties of pt/pd...lol......

I have to agree though that I dont do flowers, uppermost Calla lilies which unfortunatelly seems to be a favorite subject for many of my fellow pt/pd practitioners....

 

[Les McLean]

It's only a cliche if you copy it because you cannot photograph and print it in a way that expresses what you have to say about it, regardless of how many times it has been photographed and by whom it has been photographed.
Like blaze-on I don't do "I don't do's"

 

[Dave Parker]

I don't shoot anything, unless I can add a different perspective to it that has not been done to death already, Weddings are very low on my list after many years of dealing with uptight mother in laws, I don't do war pictures, to many grusome images already from the many years man has felt the need to kill each other, don't do nudes, to many have already portreyed the human body in far better ways than I could ever expect to.....And of course, I don't do cliches, as I hope to capture something different than anyone else has done! LOL

Dave

 

[Snapper]

Pornography.

 

[Magnus W]

I don't do ... No, strike that: I respectfully turn down requests to do friend's weddings. If I screw up, it will possibly ruin a friendship. I gladly leave that opportunity to the trained professional.

Oh, I don't do don't do listings ... most of the time.

-- MW

 

[garryl]

PEPPERS!

Cause no matter how different the shape,the artistic of your approach, clever your lighting or original in you angle- you will always be accused of copying dear Edward. An of course His' will always be better.

 

[TPPhotog]

Pornography.

That's a difficult one as I don't shoot porn but by pushing my limits I have to admit a small proportion of my negs came out as what I would define as porn. There again there are some that think all my nude and fetish shoots are porn.

On the other hand there are many that think I don't do photography ... and they might be right

 

[NikoSperi]

uppermost Calla lilies(

I can't say I'm not hurt by that...

 

[jd callow]

I don't do Republicans and pink wine or anything that can't be found in the PDR

 

[Jorge]

I can't say I'm not hurt by that...

Arrrrrggggghhhh....another calla shot......arrrggghhhh...you demon spawn....

 

[Dug]

I don't do online galleries

"The negative is the score,
the print is the performance."

the online scan is the performance played on a kazoo.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

Anything I don't want to do; weddings being #1, people are #2...that, and any image I know will look "really neat" as a B&W photograph (glowing aspen trunk against dark background etc etc etc etc) but has nothing else of value going for it other than that.

Murray

 

[Claire Senft]

I don't do digital.

 

[Mongo]

I don't do as well as I'd like...but I'm trying.

 

[jovo]

Do you answer Internet polls?
___ yes
___ no
___ undecided

VOTE!

(from my son's website....irony be he)

 

[JustK]

I don't do what other people tell me to do/photograph!

They are all very well intentioned and I struggle to politely turn them down!