Avoiding cliché shots

While enjoying the incredible views from the terraces of Duomo in Milan, my instinct was to snap some cliché images of the Gothic statues superimposed on the modern skyline, without any human element or significant emotional content. This is a typical reaction of a photographer to a famous (i.e. often-photographed) tourist attraction.

This time, however, I tried to be mindful and take photos that would be representative of my experience of that place and that moment – being tired after climbing hundreds of steps of a narrow spiral staircase, trying to imagine the thoughts of the artists, who created the countless sculptures that cover the cathedral, watching tourists enjoying a cool breeze on the rooftop or looking at their maps and planning visits to other sites…

I think that analyzing my subjective experience of a famous site produced a greater variety (and perhaps even quality) of shots than trying to reproduce iconic shots taken by someone else would have allowed.