Our World, Candid
The Importance of Candid Photography
You either love candid photography, or it’s what your "artsy friend" yells at you during parties to get a photo for their Instagram.
Candid photography seems uninspired. You pick up a camera and snap a picture and that's it. Although, art historians would strongly disagree.
In fact, “Some of the most powerful images a photographer can take are of candid moments.” states the NY Institute of Photography in Candid Photography 101.
“Candid” has transformed into a modern, mainstream word, but the genre has been around since the very beginning.
From devastating pictures of war to documenting historical events. Candid means "truthful and straightforward".
Candid doesn't lie, it gives us an accurate depiction of our reality and the emotions and life that goes with it.
The most famous candid photo of all time is “Migrant Mother”. With this photo alone, countless people during the Great Depression sparked into action to help others.
A photograph has the power to document history, and to change it, and showing people the truth of what's already there might be the best way to do it.
Candid Photography Celebrities
Migrant Mother, by Dorothea Lange (1936)
Henri Cartier-Bresson is widely recognized as the "godfather and master of candid and street photography". He was a prisoner of war in 1940 and, once escaping, photographed the liberation of Paris.
He went on to create Magnum Photos, a website which has "visually documented most of the world's major events and personalities since the 1930's". It's also the website linked above!
Another famous candid photographer (and personal favorite) is Nan Goldin. She is known for "snapshot-style portrayals" of her friends. She was praised for her depiction of "intimate details of an artist’s life".
Though her photographs, she captured extreme ups and downs of her and her loved ones fast-paced, New York lifestyle.
Going as far as to create the album The Cookie Portfolio. The album comprised one of her best friends life over 13 years, including a picture of her in her casket.
Nan Goldin emphasized total candidness in her photos. She refused to move the placement of anything in the setting, adjust lights, or manipulate the atmosphere in any way before taking a photo.
She said her photography was just her life and her diary. Although, just by taking photos of her life exactly the way it was, she was able to document the human experience and create photos deeply moving and relatable.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
“Children Playing in Ruins” (1933)
Nan Goldin
C. Putting on Her Make-up
(1992)
Candid photography is a tool to document history and capture the human experience in the most truthful form, by showing life, history and the world exactly the way it is/was.