...From 1937, at the ICP Blog.
Of course, "a nude holding a transparent bubble" hasn't been a cliché for a long time now, although you know what he means if you've seen a lot of post-pictorialist work from the Camera Annuals of the 1930s.
Still, kinda fun.
Mike
(Thanks to Vlatko a.k.a. "erlik")
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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Featured Comment by John Willard: "Rants about photographic clichés is such a cliché. :-)"
Featured Comment by Will Frostmill: "And I was just looking at the green peppers in the fridge, thinking 'I could do something with that....'"
Very good! The follow-along link to Martin Parr's November, 2010 piece is even better.
Posted by: Kenneth Tanaka | Saturday, 08 October 2011 at 11:07 AM
Ha! It's worth digging this up every now and then. I remember reading it in Modern Photography (I think) back in the early 1970s. As I recall, inspired by Eddie Weston, I had been photographing cabbage leaves from Mom's garden with Dad's 35mm Kowa SE. I'm as guilty of photo cliches as most of us. Heck, what hasn't been photographed before?
Posted by: Bill Bresler | Saturday, 08 October 2011 at 01:23 PM
I remember being in a camera club in the early 80s where pictures of swans, windmills, sunsets, windmills at sunset, swans at sunset etc were all very common.
My semi abstract photo of a top corner of my bedroom with the two walls, the door and ceiling all painted different colours was treated with disdain and laughter. It might not have been all that good, but at least I was trying to be different.
I think I gave up on that club after that.
Posted by: Roger Bradbury | Saturday, 08 October 2011 at 01:49 PM
Honestly, this reads like it could have been written by you, Mike. I mean that in the nicest way possible!
Patrick
Posted by: Patrick Perez | Saturday, 08 October 2011 at 02:26 PM
Crud. I was just about to go photograph a cabbage.
Posted by: Kevin Bourque | Saturday, 08 October 2011 at 03:09 PM
Pondering the last couple of lines. Seems to me it could be considered a rant against those ranting about cliches.
Posted by: Chuck Kimmerle | Saturday, 08 October 2011 at 04:53 PM
I feel as if I'm missing something here. To me, the last 3 lines of the oath invalidates the rest of the oath.
It's a sarcastic statement that says the best way to avoid photo cliches is to not take photos at all. I feel he's poking fun at the ranters vs being a ranter him self.
Posted by: John | Saturday, 08 October 2011 at 05:58 PM
Hmmm... the sting is in the tail, in MF Agha's piece - "I will refrain from taking any picture of any description..."
This suggests one should give up photography altogether, presumably because all photos are cliches. Tongue-in-cheek one hopes, given the specifics of over-used subject matter in the preceding list...
Though I can't help feeling that it's HOW and not WHAT that matters in photography, as in art.
Posted by: Ross Gould | Saturday, 08 October 2011 at 07:03 PM
And for writers on photography, " I will not write another piece about subjects that aren't photo-worthy."
Posted by: Jeff | Saturday, 08 October 2011 at 08:59 PM
Heh. I like the two separate injunctions against shots of homeless.
There some that could be revisited though. Nude on a springboard for one. Unfortunately I have neither nude nor springboard to hand.
He also forgot "picture of your own shadow."
Posted by: The Lazy Aussie | Saturday, 08 October 2011 at 09:52 PM
This post has inspired me to go forth and photograph a long line of nested shopping carts.
Posted by: John Robison | Saturday, 08 October 2011 at 10:21 PM
I can imagine Weird Al Jankovic singing about bell peppers to the tune of Bell Bottoms by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
Posted by: erlik | Sunday, 09 October 2011 at 01:42 AM
I guess we hobbists have to defend ourselves if we want to keep onshooting, haven't we? This classic piece by Michael Reichmann could do...
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/done_that.shtml
Posted by: Rodolfo Canet | Sunday, 09 October 2011 at 04:09 AM
I'm sure some of those nudes would be considered pornographic today!
Posted by: Chris Crowe | Sunday, 09 October 2011 at 04:35 AM
Instagraming your meals is the new cabbage cliché (but at least we can now compare meals like we compare lenses).
Posted by: Mário Pires | Sunday, 09 October 2011 at 04:58 AM
I was thinking about this the other day when taking pictures and of course this article came to mind: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/sm-03-06-01.shtml
I did not know M.F. Agha preceded you on this topic.
Superb read.
Posted by: Tom K. | Sunday, 09 October 2011 at 12:21 PM
Has anybody ever tried conceptual photography? Save a lot of money on equipment, I bet.
Posted by: Robert Roaldi | Monday, 10 October 2011 at 10:11 AM
And there goes that egg series I've been planning....
Posted by: Robin Dreyer | Monday, 10 October 2011 at 05:15 PM