In my last post, I talked about how there may not be a whole lot of “original” compositions left of the “icons” (especially considering the vast numbers of photographs taken of them!). While I may not be the most authoritative person to speak about making fine images of anything, there were two themes that struck me in the discussion of that post.
First, maybe instead of shooting the icons for the sake that they’re icons, perhaps we should look around and find new ones. While I surely haven’t created any new icons with my photography, over the last 1.5 years or so, I’ve made a strong effort to “peel the reptilian scales from my eyes” and look around me. For instance, last week, I was standing in El Cap Meadow in Yosemite, when I turned around to get something out of my bag, and saw this fantastic fog coming in from the river behind me. Despite the fact I was standing at the base of a true icon, I gladly ignored it for a few minutes to make this image:
Pine trees and fog, El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite National Park, December 2009
The other theme that came out of my last post was trying new interpretations of the well-photographed icons. As it happens, one of my New Years Resolutions for 2010 is to focus more on the “intimate landscape” present within the grander one. While in Yosemite last week, I looked for the intimacy present in the landscape and found it was all around me. Here are a couple of my intimate interpretations of some icons:
Face of El Capitan, detail, January 2010
Upper Yosemite Falls, detail, January 2010
And one for the bonus round, can you guess what icon this is (it would be easy enough to cheat, but that wouldn’t be any fun!)?
What Icon is this?, January 2010
Here’s to making an effort to “see” the icons in a different way. While I still don’t believe there’s anything wrong with shooting them as is, challenge yourself to see them differently–you might just love what comes out of the effort.
