Good ideas are not so common. But they do happen once in a while for most of us. Whereas, unique and exceptional ideas are extremely rare and may never happen for most of us. Ever.

Great ideas tend to get copied. Emulated. Used as ‘inspiration’. They tend to get replicated to the point that they become a trope. Perhaps even a cliché. So common in fact, that their importance of just how rare they were when they were created is soon lost.

In photographic terms one may hear the devaluation of a great idea executed by someone using the following statement:

“it’s quite obvious when you go there”.

For what is often lost, is context. The contrast of what the world was like before the original idea came into existence. For it is impossible to go and copy something if it does not already exist. And even harder to create an original idea out of thin air.

I always think that great ideas always lose their value once published. Humans copy. It is what we do. Trends are in essence, folks all buying into the same idea. That’s what Fashion is. Mass acceptance of something.

Great photographs are inevitaby devalued. Partly because newer and fresher things are derived from them. Nothing is ever truly original and in the process of emulating and replicating other peoples ideas adaptions and mutations of the original idea will come into existence.

But also, great photographs are devalued quite simply because it is often very hard to grasp just how hard it was to create the original idea. For once it is there, we have hindsight. And hindsight always affects our judgement.

It really doesn’t matter if you do create unique or great work. Chances are, you will be instantly forgotten in the sea of copyists who want to go and make similar images as you. That is just the way it is. Give birth to an idea and it is yours if you do not publish. But once you do publish, then your idea is no longer your own. The audit trail of who found the composition and how ground breaking you may have been in capturing it is soon lost.