candid photography

Selfie culture can hardly be called a trend at this point. It is an accepted part of the new wave of technology, and yet, accepted is something of an oversimplification. There are very few who haven’t been exposed to criticism of this particular method of memory-making. The general gist of that can be summarised in the word “vanity”. Throughout history, vanity, or the act of being overly concerned about one’s appearance, has always been discouraged. In a fascinating contradiction, we are also, from a young age, taught that we should always be conscious of how we look, act and dress.

This thought process of looking at ourselves “from the outside” is incredibly harmful. Candid photography could be the polar opposite of selfie culture. It is built on the principle that we are the most beautiful when we aren’t looking, and that genuine emotion is far more powerful than camera-ready smiles.

It is a beautiful form of art, that captures the heart and soul of humanity, but truly spontaneous photos are growing increasingly rare.

Interestingly, candid photography, also known as street photography, had very unlikely origins. The first photographer who specialised in this style was Dr. Erich Salomon, and the subjects of his photos were the upper class and politicians of Berlin during the 1920s. Since then, this art form has certainly come a long way. The literally pocket-sized cameras we wield through our phones are excellent for discreetly capturing moments without drawing attention.

Sadly, though, there is a veil of superficiality behind how so-called candid images are used nowadays. Since this mindset of “looking perfect without trying to” lingers even now, much media exploits the seemingly mature nature of not posing or fawning for the camera, when in reality, each shot is coordinated to look careless. This can be observed in many modern advertisements, where an actor seems to be caught unawares while filming, instead of talking directly to the audience. It has even diffused to personal photographs. The subject will pose again and again, until the image is a masterpiece of coincidence.