Mamiyaroid 51

Against Cliché

There is an Instagram account, @analog_repeat, that playfully skewers the analog photography clichés you see proliferating on Instagram. It’s funny, but a photographer acquaintance made a good critique saying she gets the point of the account, but she’s bored with boredom. It’s easy enough to critique but what are you doing to make the situation better?

How we react to color and light and shadow and texture is as personal as the impulse to photograph any object or situation, but the results might still be clichéd. Our feelings about a frequently photographed landscape or landmark or story might be unique, but the image will probably resemble the thousands that came before it if we don’t work against cliché.

It’s hard to be original! In order to avoid cliché, or imitation, we need to do something with our photography beyond rote documentation.

I believe one way out of this is to center your work in people and communities. Why people? Because even when they fall under types, the maps of their faces and bodies are unique. Why communities? Because that’s where stories emerge.

When everything has already been photographed, it’s hard to be original. Maybe the point isn’t even to be original, but to have a point of view.

This is partly why I have been doing street photography. I am looking for people and situations that are always shuffling. Like a deck of cards, you have fixed variables but the order and composition changes moment to moment.

This is also why I like conceptual portraiture. Maybe the key is looking for the story in an image.

Sometimes all it takes is a different angle or time of day, but certain photos are just for us— mementos of how we felt when we released the shutter.

Not everything has to be art, but when you want it to be art, that’s when you have to go against cliché or at least subvert it with purpose.

I hope to get my camera back next week so I can continue my street photography project! The following were taken with my Xpro2 in the last few months. I was going to include several others, but another thing that makes your work better is editing and curating. After some thought, these two fit best together and stand out more than if I bombarded you with all the other photographs I considered this week.

Until next time…

Adalena

I love to receive comments and questions about photography and cameras!

My email: adalenakavanagh@gmail.com

Instagram: @mamiyaroid (instant/film) @5redpandas (personal)

Twitter: @adalenakavanagh

Also, if you’re thinking of buying Polaroid film for the first time, here is my referral code, which gets you 10% off, and I get some reward points.

Original photography prints: adalenakavanagh.bigcartel.com (I change out the shop every month of so. If you see something you like, let me know, I’m happy to make you a print.)

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-Adalena Kavanagh