Britni Hall wrote:
And don't forget the standing in the middle of the street....it goes under the cliche' threads tho...do a search.  But I know it.  Done it...did it....it's not cool anymore! 

Yeah, well... I love this "cliche"!

Those are kind of my specialty and I often get hired exactly for those for commercial or magazine assignments.

If you consider "street" a cliche, how about a model standing/posing in front of a plain backdrop in a studio... how much cliche is involved in those images, how many million more photos have been taken this way?

Street photography (aka location) is something that inspires my creativity a thousand times more than a plain backdrop.

PK Digital Imaging wrote:
I never fails to amaze me.  Why do so many people CARE about what other photographers are doing?  If it doesn't suit your taste... your browser has a BACK button you can click on.

I've seen various types of shots, lighting setups, poses, props and locations used over and over and over again.  What's next?  "Why do so many photographers use a 3 strobe setup?" or "Why do so many models look at the camera?".

Photography in general is full of cliche.  What media isn't?  Should all photographers start shooting abstract so no one copies each other?

Just use your back button.  Kinda like what you did when you got 1/2 way through my rant.

-PKD

Thank you so much for making sense!

Adrienne Aurora wrote:
Empty train tracks represent abandonment and loss. But the fact that they stretch on for as far as the eye can see is a metaphor for life moving forward. The model is symbolizing hope in a disparaging situation.

I did it on my second shoot.

"I see light at the end of the tunnel... I just hope it's not a train!"

Ought To Be Shot wrote:
I never understood the common, if not overdone, act of photographing models sitting, standing or lying on railway tracks.  What's the attraction here?  Comments?

damsel in distress story we love to tell?

Linda Major wrote:
I have one too...cliche or not.....

No.. a model in a victorian dress pumping gas... that's cliche... sooo over done....

heheh

-PKD

James Johnson wrote:
Could not have said it better.

I simply wanted to understand the artistic significance of a lovely gal posed on railway tracks.  Cripes... I'm even considering doing a twist of said theme myself.

Ought To Be Shot wrote:

I simply wanted to understand the artistic significance of a lovely gal posed on railway tracks.  Cripes... I'm even considering doing a twist of said theme myself.

"Artistic significance"?! That is a wrong question.

What are the artistic significances of a "back drop", "a wall", "a room", "a flower vase", a melting clock, musical notes, colors, alphabets?!

It all depends how an artist use them...if they meant the same things to everybody, or everybody used them the same way, there was no significance to the so called art.

What is the rail roads mean to "you"?! That is the answer to your own question.