Quote Originally Posted by eric
There was an article in TIME magazine about this (or was it in one of the Nat Geo anniversary issues.

Its NOT as cliche as the guy, back in the 80s, went around 'Merica with a red couch and put it in front of all his photographs.

I do hope that those stupid TV commercials didn't copy it or at least pay that guy for the idea.

Well, I did kinda like the idea and one time, I drove x-country, and evey shot I did, I put a disposable coffee cup in the picture somewhere.
I think taking an idea and running with it is fair game. I love your disposable coffee cup idea! Magazine photography is full of cliches. When I was a photo editor at U.S.News, we used to run these 'personal guides' peridically through the year. One year, for our retirement guide, we took a red rocking chair and shipped it all over the country, and made portraits of folks in or near retirement. Talk about cliche . And shipping the chair was a nightmare!

I personally find landscapes with the human element more compelling than a portrait of unspoiled land, but that's my taste. I think the Geographic relied on a solution that got tired very quickly, but I still think that you can find excellent landscape work in it, and as a general interest magazine, they really can make use of every facet of photography that exists. Of course, with those budgets...