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Yet.
The chief word in that title is missing. Because everything that you can think up, someone else can copy. And you can do vice versa when you see what has gone before.
It'll get a bad name in some circles - derivative, stale, plagaristic, etc. The people who you rip off will universally condemn you for it - and then look any new stuff you come up with to see if it's better than theirs. And then use it as a springboard themselves.
It's bad when it stops you ever doing anything fresh - even if constant repetition and hiving off other photographers can be made to pay a decent income. Of course, eating regularly is attractive in itself, but occasionally you can experiment with vinging in a garret and looking interestingly pale while you come out with a fresh body of work.
You need not starve to do it - I've noted several very successful professionals who spent up big to pursue an artistic idea in the last couple of years. I've no idea whether they made a motza from the work, but I think they recouped their investment and the work will stay in the photo record forever - an achievement in itself.
But enough of the money-shooting. Think up a new idea for the sheer heaven of it. If you are a person who can do something very well indeed, turn your skill in that genre to a major work. Document the images as you make them. Write a book. Compile a lecture. Gather an audience. You may be surprised to find that you are remembered for this idea for decades.
And your columnist? Well, he started out is few years ago to turn studio pictures in his files into magazine covers. Twelve covers per year for a decade - 120 images and 120 sets of (in)appropriate captions. It was an amusement that would have gotten no airing had it not been for the gloom of Covid lockdown earlier in the year.
I decided to push out one per day on Facebook - with an accompanying back-of-scene dialogue between the Boss and Murphy - the photographer. The thing has taken on a life of its own...and now I seem to have discovered a filing cabinet full of characteristic magazine covers from Australia of the thirties. Who knows what new gems will see the light of day - and how they can be used in little spot exhibitions at dance shows or public riots.
I may even sneak one of them in here from time to time to sell photo equipment. Note: the model on this issue of Australasian Deco Revue is herself a magical macro photographer. She uses Nikon DX equipment to great effect. Their 105mm macro lens is a legend.
