Cliches in street photography?

Could you be guilty of shooting cliché shots? Most of us have shot them at some point and it’s all part of the learning process. However, the cliché shot doesn’t provide the basis for one’s long-term development as a street photographer; it’s something of a creative cul-de-sac and we must be able to navigate our way out of it. 

I thought I would mention all this as a kind of provocation - a call to action; time to stop and reflect and to ask yourself how much of your own work could be considered clichéd. Maybe it is - and you’re happy with that - which is absolutely fine. But it will only take you so far.

So what is a cliché? It’s a subject, scene or stylistic approach that has been photographed so often - and in such predictable ways - that it feels overused, unoriginal or formulaic.

We find cliches lurking around every corner, providing easy opportunities to endlessly recycle and repeat old ideas. We see them all the time on Instagram, for example: the silhouette of someone in a hat; the homeless person reaching out; the umbrella shot in the rain; a person in a red coat with a red bus in the background. The list is endless.

I’m not saying that any of these subjects are necessarily ‘bad’ per se and indeed you’ll find plenty of classic street images which fall into these categories. Many of us start our street photography journeys shooting this stuff (I’m sure I did and I probably occasionally still do) but we need to know when to call time on it and move on.

Consider this: clichés become clichés when done without fresh perspective, new context, original intention or personal vision. Think of a cliché as being ‘repetition without originality’, whereas a classic image could involve ‘repetition with timeless impact and personal voice’.

As I alluded to earlier, I’m not trying to point the finger with this very short piece, I’m simply suggesting we stop, to reflect and to consider our own work in this context. Maybe it’s time to move up a gear.