Break The Mold
By Kyle Smith
29 Feb 2008
Everytime I go on vacation or observe the tourists of my own town (San Diego), I notice that everyone using a camera around me is doing the same thing: They're all taking photos of the same subjects in the same way they've been done a million times in people's snapshots and in 25 cent postcards.
I came to this realization while standing 86 floors above Manhattan, on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. There were at least two hundred tourists and a few people who looked like they might have Photographer on their resume. As I watched them exposing away, I couldn't help but notice that they were all taking the same boring photos of the same postcard subjects. I thought to myself, "If I wanted one of those photos, I'd just buy one in the gift shop." At that point I decided to really open my eyes and see what there was that everyone else was missing. I always look for ways I can separate myself from the rest of the herd, and I knew this was the perfect opportunity to do so. I noticed that every single person was fighting for a spot next to the edge so they could look down at the city. So I figured that if everyone else was looking down, my best bet was to look up! I glanced upward and saw was in my opinion has to be one of the most beautiful elements of the building: the Radio Tower. I got myself into a corner where I could get the entire tower in to the 80mm frame of my Bronica. I made the exposure and knew I had a gem. As I looked up from my waist level finder I noticed the I had a few people looking at me like my face was on fire. They looked up at the tower and seemed quite confused. They looked at me again and then went back to making their snapshots.
For the rest of my stay in the Big Apple I made sure to keep my photographs unique and interesting. In times square I noticed the same phenomenon I'd seen on the Empire State Building. So again I looked around for something that was different and well represented the chaos and excitement of Times Square. It was getting later into the evening and all around me there were people gussied up in their best duds to hit the town. I noticed the woman in red and knew that she would be my best way to represent that moment and place in time.
When on a vacation or holiday you've got a great opportunity to make beautiful photographs because you're away from the daily grind of your life. You can free your mind and embrace the place you're visiting with an outsider's perspective. So next time you're on a trip, be sure to really open your eyes and when you see twenty people all making the same photograph, look around and see what they don't know how to see. That is where those secret subject are hiding and that's where you will be the unique member of the herd.
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