Good thread... and good points to consider. I think, among others, individuality has a great role to play here. As well as sensitivity, meaning the way you personally 'sense' a scene or subject. I would like to illustrate that with two images of the same subject: a castle in Clervaux, Luxemburg that I visited last weekend.

The first image was shot quickly when I first arrived at the scene. Some family members there, and an overall view of what I thought to be a beautiful scene. It came out not too bad, technically and compositionally, and you might even consider it an interesting subject..;o))
And yet, when I look at it now, it still has all the characteristics of a typical holiday snapshot.

We do not see things as they are. ǝɹɐ ǝʍ sɐ sƃuıɥʇ ǝǝs ǝʍ