Candid

In contrast to abstracts, candid shots have always fascinated me. Not (I would like to think) due to some deep seated voyeuristic tendencies, with all the negative connotations that immediately spring to mind, but rather from the joy of exploring the range and true nature of what people are.

In contrast to portraits where the image will tend to be a “false” image of the self, here I present images which are not shaped by the conscious intervention of a camera. In a portrait the person presented with conscious thought as to the impression that the viewer will take away. Sometimes that comes from the subject and the pose or attitude they will adopt when being photographed, and sometimes (more often) from the photographer and his placement and direction of the subject, but either way this "interferes" with the essence of the real person, even to the extent that the image becomes a cliche, whether intended or (often) not.

To this end, and in relation to what I have written on Photo Editing, I employ only the most basic of post processing tools on my candid images. With a candid shot, sure there will be some interpretation on my part in how the image is presented that you could argue delivers the same "interference", but for me this is just the framing or placing on context of the subject to focus the attention on the true nature of the human state. And this is where also I see a difference between a portrait and a candid shot. A portrait is naturally of someone, a specific individual - the person is the subject of the photograph. With a candid shot the person is incidental, part of the background even – a canvas on which is painted the true subject of the photo human essence, human emotion.