In a recent podcast, Jeff Curto, introduced the notion of the essential photograph. These are photographs that every photographer feels they have the need to take at some point in their photographic journey. The example cited in the podcast was an image of a lone tree. There are many more, such as: the sunset reflected in water; closeup of a lover’s face; sand dunes; a fence or telephone poles receding into the distance, etc. A search on the web brings up nothing relevant on the notion of essential photographs but compulsory photographs does offer just a few trivial examples:
- The 20 Most-Clichéd Tourist Photos – Mashable
- Wedding Photography: Checklist of “Must Have” Photos
- 50 ‘Must Have’ Wedding Photography Shots – Digital …
- 85 Don’t-Miss Wedding Pictures – The Knot
I have long been conflicted between the recognition that such shots lack originality and the urge, deeply rooted in my subconscious, to take the picture. Needles to say this has been a most frustrating unarticulated itch. But now that it is exposed, named and justified it can be embraced and explored without apprehension. No longer will I dread the labels cliché, banal, trite. Rather I will see the completion of such photographs as a measure of progress in my photographic maturity: one less unoriginal image to take. Hmm, I wonder how many there are?
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