This Camera Can Tell When Your Photos Are Cliche

How many photos have you come across of popular landmarks like the Eiffel Tower which have been shot from the bottom panning upwards? Five? Ten? A hundred, perhaps? Chances are the answer is plenty. However designer Phillipp Schmitt has decided that maybe cliched photos are getting old, and has created a smart camera called the Camera Restricta.

Basically this is a camera that can track its own location, and is also able to search for photos online taken from the same area that might match the photo you’re about to take. If it detects that maybe there are just too many photos that looks similar, it will actually retract its shutter button and prevent you from snapping that shot.

This forces the photographer to think up of more unique angles and compositions for their photos instead of taking cliched shots. According to Schmitt, “Camera Restrictive introduces new limitation to prevent (that) overflow. As a byproduct, these limitations also bring about new sensations like the thrill of being the first or last person to photograph a certain place.”

Unfortunately the Camera Restricta is not an actual product that one can buy. However it does raise the idea of originality when it comes to photo compositions. After all with thousands of tourists snapping photos of landmarks like the Eiffel Tower on a daily basis, trying to have your photo stand out from the crowd will be difficult.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Photo-Video
Tags: art