I've been pondering your last reply, Rob, for a couple of days now. Are you saying that window reflections are not worth shooting? Or that they are cliches? Or something else entirely?
David,
I am pointing out that my own current interest in the genre of windows and reflections is nothing new at all, that even my idea that it had pretty much originated with Saul Leiter turned out to be flawed; as he was doing so well, others were also beavering away doing similar things. Perhaps the truth is that there are only so many genres widely available, freely, which was as important to those early photographers of the NY School as it is to me! I say widely, but that's also a stretch, because unless one lives in a town large enough to boast busy pavements/thoroughfares, then the raw material will be absent. Yes, some smaller shops will still have glass frontages, but for me, as for those pioneers, it's the human presence that makes atmosphere - largely - and that's hard to crack in towns and countries where everything shuts down at mealtimes as folks vanish into homes or little restaurants, leaving empty streets between 1pm and 4.30pm at least.
Cliche? Oh yes, but even within cliche there are things that work and others that simply pay lip service to genre and are never going to rate highly even within the photographer's own estimation. But hey, if it's purely for personal satisfaction, there is little else that will really concern the shooter. That's why I go back for more when I feel mentally up to travelling that same route again.
I think that for myself, at the bottom of it all lies this urge to keep creating something if only because it's about all one can do as amateur: without assignment, it's tough to find reason or motivation because the blank wall facing one is more than a little bit daunting! The assignment offers challenges and problems to overcome, but if at least offers direction
towards something. I suppose that's the reason for things like Ms Coke, too: just an idea to try and illustrate in yet another manner.