nothing new under the sun

[Alan Klein]

I just ate French onion soup. It was delicious. I must have had that soup hundreds of times in my life. Always enjoy it. What were we talking about? Photos?

 

[NedL]

It doesn't matter if it's new. It doesn't matter if sunsets have been photographed forever. The one I may be photographing is the one *I* see *right now* as *I* see it. There has been and never will be another quite like it, not to mention my own vision, framing, filtering and exposing of it. Billions of people have seen hundreds of billions of sunsets and still that element, me, makes this one unique. That's reason enough for me to photograph it. (Same with any subject, of course, that's just an example.)

To me this is the entire answer and it does not need to be qualified.

If I start to feel like I'm in a rut, what Bruce said about branching out and trying new things is great.

And finally, chickens might make good people but ducks are even better, and lay even more delicious eggs! Roosters are for roasting right away....

 

[eddie]

i've heard for years every photograph has already been taken.
there is nothing new under the sun
and no matter what you think is new and refreshing, well, its
old, worn out and boring.

The idea that everything's been done is an external argument. Creativity is, by definition, an internal pursuit. As such, it shouldn't be concerned with any external static. Do whatever brings out the best in you.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

The idea that everything's been done is an external argument. Creativity is, by definition, an internal pursuit. As such, it shouldn't be concerned with any external static. Do whatever brings out the best in you.

Exactly. I always thought an artist was motivated to create by internal forces.


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[Sirius Glass]

I have found that the photons still work the same for film as they always have, so the digital age has not changed their behavior.

 

[removed account4]

thanks MattKrull !

i appreciate your answer.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

i've heard for years every photograph has already been taken.
there is nothing new under the sun
and no matter what you think is new and refreshing, well, its
old, worn out and boring.
not sure how much stock i put into those words since
every sun rise/set is different, no expression is ever the same no 2 people are the same,
no situation is really the repeat of another ...
moments really don't repeat themselves, so nothing can really be the same, can it ?

i have been getting bored for a few years now .. and while i realize things are not exactly the same
i've come to the realization that there really isn't much new under the sun. most photography
is the same old same old, puppies, sunsets pretty girls old run down buildings, streetscapes ...
and part of me is OK with that but part of me tries a little bit not to get my wheels caught on the tracks.

some say their photography shows their soul and the soul of whatever it is they are making a picutre of.
what is it that you do that you try to bring a bit of yourself into your photography?

I agree with you .Heck,I have difficulty to make the same print again from the same negative but sometimes the differences are too small to call it something new.

 

[pdeeh]

How has this become a digital vs film thread? :confused:

sigh

 

[removed account4]

i agree, creativitiy comes from within ..

i suppose what i am asking in a round about kind of way
is what do you do, creatively, that might make
your photograph, yours so it isn't just like the
hundreds of thousands of photographs have been taken
of birds sitting on a powerline

 

[mrred]

The idea that everything's been done is an external argument. Creativity is, by definition, an internal pursuit. As such, it shouldn't be concerned with any external static. Do whatever brings out the best in you.

I agree. Everything hasn't been shot until I shoot it.

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[frank]

i agree, creativitiy comes from within ..

i suppose what i am asking in a round about kind of way
is what do you do, creatively, that might make
your photograph, yours so it isn't just like the
hundreds of thousands of photographs have been taken
of birds sitting on a powerline

You are verging on talking about style. The best way to deal with developing your style is simply to go about doing what you do the way you do it, and not by thinking or talking about developing your own style.

 

[removed account4]

naah
im not talking about style
i am talking about creativity ..

 

[pdeeh]

Oh its creativity is it?

In which case, as we all know, the most creative photographer is the one with the most expensive camera ...

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

Of course every photo has already been taken but it doesn't matter. An image is always new and fresh to a viewer who hasn't yet seen the other five hundred that are very similar to it. Every painting has been made, every song has been sung, every sonnet has been written... it just doesn't matter because life goes on and we must keep photographing, painting, singing, writing... or we can just give up, wither and die.

 

[frank]

naah
im not talking about style
i am talking about creativity ..

I disagree. Ones unique creativity is ones style. You ask, How do you make your photo your own? How do you put yourself into it so it isn't like all the others?

You simply do.

 

[blansky]

Perhaps we just need to remove the ego and realize they're all really just sand paintings.

And enjoy the journey.

And maybe when we let go of thinking about our style, our style will show up.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Perhaps we just need to remove the ego and realize they're all really just sand paintings.

And enjoy the journey.

And maybe when we let go of thinking about our style, our style will show up.

I like that, a big dose of humility. I will learn from that.

Either we see something with our photographic eye, or we don't. Sometimes we're inspired by it enough to raise our camera and attempt to make something interesting out of it.
Whether somebody else did that before or not is not important, in my opinion.

 

[removed account4]

Perhaps we just need to remove the ego and realize they're all really just sand paintings.

And enjoy the journey.

And maybe when we let go of thinking about our style, our style will show up.

this is why i like making retina prints ..
they disappear soon after they are made
like a photographic etch a sketch

thanks B

but i might still have to buy another camera cause
it will make my journey that much more blingful

 

[DREW WILEY]

Many times I've walked right past the exact set of trees with my 8x10 year after year. But only once did I shoot them. Never again will the
light likely be exactly as I saw it at that moment - and a very brief moment. Nor would it matter if fifteen other photographers were standing
right beside me trying to copy my shot. Analogous things do happen when people see a serious camera propped up. Nor would it matter is
50,000 shots of the same set of trees had been taken before. In this case I predict zero, because there isn't an idiotic "scenic turnout" sign
next to them; but even it there had been .... Nobody else would have done it. A few millimeters off in the composition, a different style of
printing. I even made two differing styles of print, each equally compelling, but with a slightly different personality to each. So even if
something has allegedly been done before, it's never REALLY been done before. And for those cynics who just like to invent neat little genre
categories, because they have nothing better to do... well, get off your butt and get a set of eyes!

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

To whom are you addressing your post? There are several who, if not blatantly referring to ego, at least hint at it.

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

Well... I agree with the ego thing. All too often we allow our egos to rule much of what we do, or don't do. Who cares if what we do is comparable to what someone else did? It doesn't mean we intentionally attempted to copy their work(s) not that there's anything wrong with that provided we give credit where it's due.

 

[cliveh]

Everything is new and everything is different. The same shot taken offset by 2 millimetres or at a different angle has a world of difference. This is even before you get into the world of printing re visualisation.

 

[dpurdy]

I would say it is just as difficult to be unique as a painter. Every concept or style has been seriously worked from photo realism to abstract expressions, from highest quality paint to things attached to canvas and called painting. Every surface from painting on cave walls to painting with a computer program. from single point perspective to multiple points of view. There is absolutely nothing left to break new ground. A person can still construct a still life or other arrangement and photograph or paint it and have it be something no one else has thought of but the concept of that is already heavily worked. I think the same could probably be said for any branch of the arts. I would say the goal of being unique is probably a futile aspiration. Being inspired by something and wanting to make an expression of it in some way is still valuable at least to me.
Dennis

 

[frank]

Regarding ego: it's best not to compare yourself (and your photography) to others, because it leads to either an inflated sense of self, or depression.

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

^^^ Ha ha... ain't that the truth!! ^^^