What is candid photography?:
Candid photography is the process of capturing an image without posing the subject beforehand. it usually captures a subject in their natural environment, behaving as they normally would with little to no engagement with the camera.
Candid photography helps to convey to the viewer what it is like to be in that environment, and gives a realistic perspective of what it would be like to be in that place at that time. It is the most natural form of photography available, as it requires very little preparation, and simply makes use of the situation already occurring.
The following images are professional examples of candid photography:
Street Photography:
“Photography is about finding out what can happen in the frame. When you put four edges around some facts, you change those facts.” – Garry Winogrand
“If you can smell the street by looking at the photo, its a street photo.” – Bruce Gilden
“The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.” – Robert Doisneau
“I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.” – Diane Arbus
“I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed.” -Garry Winogrand
Street photography involves capturing images of individuals who are not aware that the photograph is being taken, in public settings. As apposed to the more vague definition of candid photography, street photography often occurs in specifically urban settings, with more noise and action occurring in a single image, and with less specific subjects (the subjects arrive by chance/ the photographer doesn’t control who they are). Street photography is used by many artists to encapsulate the genuine emotions of everyday people, using a snap shot to give a detailed visual description of a moment in an average day, that many viewers would relate to .
The following are examples of street photographs taken by professional photographers:
To edit this photo I adjusted the curves so that it was slightly more saturated, as I thought this would make the overexposed white part at the bottom a little less noticeable, as the background colours would stand out a lot more. Doing that also brought down the brightness slightly, meaning that it also contributed to making sure the whiteness was less prominent. Lastly I also turned the hue and saturation right down so I was able to make the image black and white. I decided to make the image black and white instead of highly saturated for 2 reasons. Firstly, because I thought that if the image was in black and white, the overexposed part wouldn’t be as visible, and secondly, because I wanted to add an element into my image that shows I was slightly inspired by Sander as all his images were in black and white. I think this was a really good idea as it meant that I added a vintage touch into my modern day inspired environmental photography.
When looking at this photo, although it was far too underexposed I thought that it was an image with potential because of how the model was making intense eye contact with the camera. To edit it, I turned the brightness all the way up, so that the image wasn’t so dark. To make it fit in with my other image, and did the same technique that I mentioned previously and turned the hue and saturation all the way down to make the photo black and white.. I think that the intense stare that the model is giving, combined with a black and white filter makes the image far more successful as it makes it more dramatic and mysterious.
