Dean Scutt
@dean_scutt6d
People diving into water and other tropes
So I may get shot for this, but is anybody else bored of layered shots of people diving into water? I'll include some other tropes in this, big hats, people reading through windows (Im guilty of taking all these photos btw) even when I take them Im bored by myself. Because we know these kind of shots are easy wins on social media are we driving ourselves into a cul-de-sac?
I get where you're coming from, but it's a little bit different for me... ""am I a bit bored with stand alone images" where I really want to see a project or small group of photos with some real life context behind it, even if they're technically not as good.
Yeah I can relate to that, ultimately content is king, technical compositions are nice but if there is no emotion 🤷🏻♂️ at least I know that feeling this way means I still want to push myself to do better, go further
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Tropes are useful in projects. People flying through the air are compelling, too.
As still photographers, we have a limited grammar to work with. In journalism, an image like a father standing alone in what is obviously the bedroom a child can be a powerful way to tell the story of a kid who was killed tragically. We've seen it before but it does something important.
We've seen a bunch of people flying into swimming holes, too. The mostly naked bodies of attractive young people tend to grab eyeballs, too. I don't mind it, especially if it's well composed and it catches a good moment. It's sort of a game... oh, this person is trying that thing. How'd they do? Even better if it's part a thoughtful sequence.
Me having taken a load of diving shots the last couple of years
Also me whenever I take a photo of someone in a conical hat here in Vietnam
Justin Mott went of on that awhile back... https://justinmott1.substack.com/p/the-problem-isnt-staging-its-lying
Yeah but what he is pointing out here is something different, this is more than just photographing something you have seen 1000 times or has become a trope. That photograph in question is a complete fabrication, beyond staging because you would never see it in real life. It would be the equivalent of seeing someone working in a mine in a suit and tie.
Not everyone is necessarily at the same stage of their photography journey as you. Some are just starting out, while others are more experienced. Some are developing projects, whereas others simply find joy in the act of taking photos and creating images. Photography is a long, never-ending journey, and everyone follows that path at their own pace. If certain images bore you, just move on.
I'm not trying to neg anyone, of course everyone should do what they want, shoot what they want, grow at their own pace and love what they are doing. But I also think it's worth asking critical questions and analysing trends as they come and go.
It is hard to be truly original all the time. You can find all sorts of boring photos: silhouettes, people diving, shots playing with light and shadow, reflections, and so on. But the great thing about street photography is that, while on one hand everything has already been done, on the other, every image remains unique.
Humans are repetitive creatures by nature, so I think it's disingenuous to think that an image of people diving into water is people chasing what they see on social media when it could simply be people seeing something cool and taking a photo.
I think social media isn't great at amplifying diverse photography, and is great at re-promoting what the majority like, which is why shots like what you describe show up more because people prefer to engage with the simple on a doom scroll and not someones full archive of different/engaging images.
It's a difficult one. I have hundreds of portrait shots (not Street Photography ) . Yet I know I need to do more to try to improve as there are always variations within portrait photos , so I think this pretty much applies to many other 'sub-categories' within genres. I guess the viewer may however become bored of seeing similar images, therefore I guess it'a up to the posting photographer to think carefully before selecting an image for public viewing ( while of course still taking shots of repetitive subjects they remain interested in).
For me portraits are a different beast because they are all unique just by the fact that every human being unique, but getting a great one, getting that moment or spark in their eye that shows that, super hard to get that out of people in chance encounters
I think it’s important to understand the underlying appeal of these photographs if one is going to move on from taking them. The photo of divers is nice to look at (especially from the perspective of a general audience) because it often includes eye-catching colors (from the sky and water), bold shapes/forms often in silhouette, and the freezing of time — there’s a lot of visual drama. I think, depending on your age, there can also be some nostalgia for youth at play. This kind of shot reflects what the camera is really good at doing: isolating color through framing, manipulating the amount of light and detail recorded, freezing time in a way the human eye cannot (the drama of a human figure in flight/falling), and therefore focusing the viewer on something they cannot otherwise see/experience. The human eye does not allow us to see this way, but a camera can, and a photo that exploits this difference will have the admiration of a general audience who is not used to seeing this way. A lot of people get into photography because they are enamored by this new way of seeing and learning to master the tool that achieves it, but fewer steep themselves in the history of the medium and have a developed understanding of what’s already even done, what photography has already shown those who study and practice it. Wanting to do something more than a shot like this is a sign of growth in your personal photographic journey, and fostering this kind of awareness will nudge you further towards developing your own voice/style. Because once you can communicate that through your photography, you’ll show people something new.
Getting a good diving shot is a hoot and a challenge plus it’s in a nice environment. What’s not to like?
Trent Parke spent years trying to get a good one.
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A good one? I think he's got some of the greatest of all time 😄
He has? OK
But have you ever wondered how else it could be done? How about getting in the water to capture the reverse? That could look cool
No cause there’s sharks
A layered shot of someone diving into a sharks mouth, now that would be something
With the amount of work finding its way into the world now it's not easy to be completely original and themes are going to be repeated; people walking past walls, umbrellas ... If the work is good I think it’s fine.