Denis de Rougemont said, "The superstition of our time expresses itself in a mania for equating the sublime with the trivial." And Henry Holmes Smith added to the quote, "and to take whatever is lower to be more real.
We have been conditioned to see resemblance in an image as a connection to the real and when there isn't a sure foot to view the picture on, a sure simple conclusion of an image's intent according to our own shallow view then we disconnect from the image and don't think of it as important or worthy of study.
The hard part in photography is to have a vision of your purpose in creating art. Your inspiration can come from many extremes, even from ordinary resemblances. The subjective image is one such extreme. When you feel intensely and want to express that feeling visually can you rely on mundane objects to get that intent across to the viewer. Or are you forced to create a new world of objects that comply with your expressive goals? This new world of objects are still resemblances but are now part of an internal dialogue of purpose. These objects can be abstracted to create an intent to express your deep revelations. You might decide to light them in an extreme way to bring out harsh details instead of nuances in your subject details. You may decide to shoot through something, that gives the illusion of barriers to your subject as in a relationship that is unbridgeable etc...
The key to personal imagery is to not go to such an extreme that only you can describe what the image intent is.
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