Cliches are a big problem in photography. (Writing and illustrating too but I’ll keep it to photo now). You’d think that it would be less of a problem in photo, that photos are taken of everything from all over the world and end up being a reflection of the complete diversity of what’s out there. But, in my opinion, in the pro photo world, it seems that we may all be spending too much time looking at each others work. This is not to claim that I am completely innocent of the photo cliche. But, here are a few photos which represent photo cliches that irritate me a lot. 
(How often do people actually stand like that, or run cheerfully in the surf, board in hand? Yet I have seen these photos thousands of times.)
If you believe photos you’d think this whole country is filled with beautiful groups of mixed race teens laughing in the snow or next to the campfire.
And then there are all those pensive businessmen, just thinking all day.
So yes a lot of this is the stock photo world but also portfolios.
I can’t even count the number of skinny pastel clad women taking a morning run on the top of a grassy hill I’ve seen lately. Or grizzly lobster fisherman casting their nets, or black guys standing on empty basketball courts shot from feet level, or Cuban cars at sunset. I’m not claiming I’m exempt, just wondering at how we end up having this big visual conversation with each other, repeating the same images over and over.