My opinion on the development of Candid Photography.

I believe that Candid photography itself hasn't changed as the concept remains the same as we try to capture a moment of purity whether that be pure emotion or a genuine moment in time. The purpose was to document an immediate moment which may have been difficult in the earlier era's with the large set up slow shutter camera's however Candid images were still faintly present.

The idea has not changed much if not at all. However its the people involved with the images that have changed as we have witnessed the development of era's industrialization and community battles and the effects that this has had on the people of the world and how each generation has shaped to become the people we see today.

Candid photography is a pure moment in which we treasure because it reminds us of the unpredictability of human nature and how we all react individually and yet in sync as we become placed into stereotypes and communities. 

In the modern day Candid is seen as a documentary form of photography as we are secretly documenting just one second of a humans life in which we know nothing else about which i think is a beautiful gift modern photography has given us with the faster point and shoot camera's. However i don't believe this makes them any more beautiful than the Candid War photo's i first looked at as we saw the effort of the photographer in an image of history which was not recognized as an important shot at that modern time.

2010

Candid photography has become a major element of street photographer and I personally love how we have become slightly obsessed with documenting each others lives through the form of photography and it is amazing to be able to compare the people of today and modern characteristics with the people of nearly a hundred years ago. 

A modern candid photographer i enjoy viewing who merges candid photography with street photography is Rob Cartwright.

He documents the streets of London and its inhabitants which is a long way from the images of the streets of London during the 1880's John Thompson images.

This is a personal fascination i share as i love to compare modern people with each other and the traditional values that we have both lost and still keep.

In this image we see how the traditional pass time of reading a newspaper is kept in a modern environment of technology driving cars and mobile phones which is a comforting scene. I like how this candid shot shows the mix of modern and traditional life as the middle aged driver sits in the middle of the city in his modern cab instead of his horse and carriage.

Date:2013

Title: taxi cabbie waiting.

Photo Credit: Robcartwrightphotoblog.wordpress.com

00's

Colour photography began to make an appearance in candid photography as the digital era really took off. 
Brian Finke photographed behind the scenes of sporting events which i think is a beautiful idea as he captures the pure emotion of nerves and confidence as people prepare themselves for the performance they are about to give.

Camera's were becoming better quality for quicker speeds and this is on on going development in modern camera's. The bright colours in Finke's images really show the tension i believe as we see how the sweat on the skins of the competitors contrast and shine and the colours help identify the sportsmen and women as different individuals. This really captures the emotion in the human body.

date: unknown

Title: most muscular

Photo Credit: Camerademoctrica.blogspot.com

This type of candid photography is very personal and intense as we are welcomed into the personal emotions of the participants and how they are concentrating in their own world. This is what makes candid photography interesting as you capture a moment of individuality without purposely making a statement.

These are the type of camera's which were available in 2001 the one below being a digital Kodak dx3215.

1990

During the 90's because the camera was becoming more and more lightweight and easily accessible people began to focus on themselves rather than documenting the life around them and candid photography died out for a little while as fashion photography became more and more popular. However i did find a photographer who i count as a candid artist although he photographs in a rather odd way.

Justin Quinell created his own pinhole cameras and photography during the 90's after picking up his first camera at the age of 11. His images are created by his own camera's he makes one of which fits inside of his mouth and he takes images using the pinhole effect.

He took pictures of things such as his young children and his dentist. I believe these count as candid images especially he images of his children as they are too young to be aware that they are having their photo taken and even so the camera is hidden in Quinell's mouth and so the photo is captured without them knowing in first instance. The dentist however could be more criticized as the images could have been posed however the image could be a moment of captured surprise just before the dentist noticed the small camera in his mouth.

Date: 1990's

Title: Louis gets to know dad

Photo Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

Date:1990's

Title: unknown

Photo Credit: www.tandf.co.uk

1980

The grimy fashion was becoming more and more of a fashion statement as in the 80's bands such as:
The Clash, Ramones, The Cure, U2, Nirvana and The Stranglers started to become more popular and the band photography and dress sense started to spread fashion types. And this is when Punk fashion began to grow.

Richard Sandler documented this fashion craze in the streets using candid photography as he captures cultured settings with cultured people involved giving a bold fashion statement with his images. I think that his images are very contrasting and show the Urban culture of the 80's.

Date: unknown

Title: subway photographs

Photo credit: sayforward.com

The image above shows two contrasting couples both in the rough environment showing signs of complete comfort and i like how this shows the culture of urban life during the 80's as we see how all 4 characters are rather different but are united together by certain traits be it wearing a dark coloured jacket or dark shades. The era was about looking as cool, bold and strong as possible to be with the fashion sense.

1970

The community struggles where still visible in the streets of New York which photographer Leland Bobbe documented.

He looked at the gritty and desperate natures of both men and women and published the lives of prostitutes,pimps and drug dealers who worked openly on the streets.
This became shocking to witness but also without intention began a fashion sense as the grime of the 70's was a stereotypical look as people wanted to look tougher and 'cooler' another main fashion in the 70's was pop culture as the music industry had an effect. The grimy look is what we see in Bobbe's photographs.

Date: unknown

Photo Credit: www.nydailynews.com

In this image we see the obvious 70's pop culture fashion but the bold black and white image with its gritty damaged background gives the image a darker atmosphere suggesting a deeper sinister effect of the image.

One of the more popular cameras during the 70's was the olympus 35mm film camera. This camera was lightweight easily portable and a simple point and shoot had never been easier meaning capturing the moment had never become so literal.

With colour photography growing in craze Polaroid released an instant colour print camera which was of course the instax. This camera became widely popular because of how easy and quick it was to point shoot and have a print ready. This was a technological revolution for photography and the art form was becoming more and more popular as cameras became more accessible and easier to operate.

Colour Photography

Although colour photography has been available since as early as 1861 colour photography became widely popular during the 1960's and people began to wear bright colours and was more involved with expressing themselves and bold personalities as becoming an individual was an important event during the 60's. However still the main form of photography remained as black and white film. This was the main preference over colour films until perhaps the 90's and 00's as digital cameras became more available and easier to use and colour could be easily documented and changed during editing processes which became digital instead of chemical.

1960

Candid photography really started to become popular and lifestyles became more cultures and different and people in more common places became more comfortable with expressing themselves through fashion and characteristics as the modern era was developing. We began to see the start of fashion crazes and phases and how social groups differed and became individuals withing groups. 

A man who documented this in the 60's is Bruce Davidson.
He is an american photographer who is a member of magnum photo's agency. His most noticeable photos are from Harlem New York  in which he photographs the communities which are hostile to outsiders.

Date: 1961

Photo credit: www.cbsnews.com

This image above is a photo he took during the civil rights movement. In the 60's during this era riots and strikes were the norm as the people constantly battled for equality and better living conditions and the 60's was of course the era of the hippies in which world peace became so important to achieve because of all the war that was happening at the time the biggest being: Vietnam war.

In this image we see a women being taken away by police (given away by one of the badges shown not the identity) however they are holding onto her they look linked together and united however separated in beliefs perhaps.

1950

In this post i look at again a very iconic and one of the most criticized images to have ever been taken as the question is thrown round : Candid or posed?

The image was said to be candid however after speculation the image has been called up for being actually a posed image. However i am going to include this into my research as this was a huge step forward for candid photography and allowed the genre to become more recognizable.

The image is that of course : Le baiser de l'hotel de ville. ( kiss by the hotel de ville).

The image was photographed by Robert Doisneau for Life magazine in 1950 and would be his most recognizable piece yet.

Date:1950

Photo credit: harryneelam.photography

The evidence of how fast the cameras are becoming is evident in this image as motion is caught as people carry on to walk by which is one of the elements which makes the still in-focus couple stand out more as they stop to share a moment of love which has a very heart warming central confident atmosphere within the image.

1940

In the 1940's small portable film camera were becoming more accessible and quicker and quicker shutter speeds where becoming available making candid photography well and truly possible in this era and I believe this is where candid photography really started to begin as it was used to document troubled times in the cities of the people.

A photographer i have found from the 40's who has created interesting work is Gordon Parks. He was a black photographer who described as using using the 'camera as a weapon against racism and poverty' and he documented this through candid and posed images but both having a dramatic impact on the country of america. His candid images have a deep depressing feel as they document the reality of poor lifestyles. 

My favorite image is An image of Ella Watson who was a US chairwoman. She sits with her adopted children and is shown in a claustrophobic room surrounded by all her children and empty bowls. This shows the bond between her family but also her troubles as the house hardly looks plentiful.

 Date: 1942

Photo credit: www.masters-of-photography.com

Self portrait of Gordan Parks with his camera.

1930

One of the most viewed and most famous images came from the 1930's and was shot by Lewis Hine and is yes a candid image shot.

The image is called 'Lunch atop a skyscraper'
Taken in 1932

Photo credit: nytimes.com

This image was taken as the workers on the empire state building took a lunch break all sat together and the line composition and order in this image is what makes it so appealing. The obvious depth shown in the image really puts into perspective the dangers and differences between era's and the beautiful pattern of the city in the distance really empowers the men and makes them look almost god like. 'Gods of the city' almost as they sit high above everyone else but however looking so average.

1920

 Paul Strand was known for his documentary images. However he did participate in candid imagery when he produced a project called 'Silent Manhatta' in which he photographed the city Manhattan and the people dwelling there and also created a short film with other photographer : Charles Sheeler.

Charles Sheeler is more of a construction photographer in which he was fascinated by the compositions man made objects and structures created to create a pattern within his images and look interesting.

As Paul Strand was more of a people photographer together the short film shows both the inhabitants and the city of New York and how they combine together to create the city as a whole.

One of Charles sheeler's stills from the film:

Photo credit: evanderprice.blogspot.com

And this is one of Paul strands images in which we see people crossing the bridge:

Photo credit: nytimes.com

Granted the short film is more about the construction of the city candid photography is still a part of this short film which gives you a sense of culture and helps the film work together with the city scenes.

The film 'Manhatta':  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSLCTI1BTdw

1910

Times are changing and photography is becoming more and more available to anyone. During the 1910's Jessie Tarbox Beals found herself becoming New York's first female photo journalist.

She took a lot of documentary images to advertise the streets of New York and the people living in the city.

However she did also do candid work which reflects the true natures of the people without a posed position but also always keeping a positive outlook in her images as she loved her city and wanted to show the benefits of living in new York and the natures of the people living there.

 

The following image shows the main focus points not looking into the camera whether this was intentional or not the effect gives a surprise feel as she captures the lady looking up adoringly at the gentleman. I think this shows a moment of affection captured by the element of surprise and faster moving camera's allowed this became possible.

 

 

Photo labelled: Alice Foote MacDougal entertaining soldiers 1917-18

 

Photo credit: www.piniterest.com

 

Here is a photograph of Beals with her camera.

 

 



1900

Cameras are getting much quicker! Lewis Hine had a box camera in which he used to photograph children working in the mills which became some of the most shocking images in history as he exposed the mistreatment, poverty and injury which would occur at working mills and factories employing young children. These images made a revolution on changing the American laws on children age limits and conditions.

 

This would have been the type of camera Hine would have used as you see its till a similar structure to the box cam and is now using paper film instead of wet plates. This camera was quite popular in the 1920's.

 

Photo credit: youthvoices.net

 

In this image I think that I can class this as a candid image as the subjects (children) probably are not fully aware on what Hine is doing and continue there daily work whilst unknowingly being documented for time and future.

 

 

Photo Labelled: child labour, youngsters at bib mill 1909

Photo credit: www.demilled.com

 

 



1890

Alfred Stieglitz approach was that of exposing the harshness of urban life however in this image in which he took in 1893 he stated that he captured for the first time nourishment and this inspired him to 'nourish his work' into becoming more human and to make himself as an artist become more successful. He was inspired by the kind act the man gave to his horses on what he described to be a miserably cold day. The image captures a man taking a break from carting to steam his horses in the cold weather. Arguably he was only nourishing the horses so have could carry on working but that's what was needed in order to live and survive in the harsh conditions.

This image is a candid image as the man did not notice Stieglitz take the image. The Camera Stieglitz used was altered in order to have a quicker shutter speed. The camera he owned was still a box cam however with the modification could take images in quicker seconds rather than up to a minute.

This is the camera that he used.

 

Photo credit: www.notesonphotographs.org

 

 

 

Photo label: The terminal 1893.

photo credit: www.thegetty.edu

 



1880

John Thompson also took an interest in using photography not to document the war but the effects of the growing industry and how the public became to suffer from the decline of farm demands and other elements of the industrialisation of big cities. He captured the London street crawlers in which he showed not a humane approach but a very cold as his images look as though they are there for the purpose of exposing the poor with no empathetic interest. These images I would say are candid as again the subjects in his images look unaware of their image being taken despite the massive box camera which would have been in front of them. His work was taken from the 1870's-1880's.

 

Image labelled: in Victorian London two men, 1880s.

Photo credit: ardnasselas.wordpress.com

His most famous image is this of a weak woman begging on the streets of London holding her baby. This became the front cover of his published book 'London street callers'.

 

Photo labelled: street life in London.

Photo credits: www.digitallibary.ise.ac.uk

 

1870

In the 1870'S Jacob A Riis moved to New York city from Denmark. He bought himself a wooden 4x5 box cam which was much more portable than the wet plate cameras however they still took around the same time to set up. He started to document the streets of New York instead of any war which is now one of the first examples of documentary photography. He looked at the poor conditions of the public and what the effect of industrialisation was doing to America as he photographed the poor and inside slums. He was also the first photographer to use flash as he used flash powder to capture the dark interiors on slums.
 This is what his camera would have looked like basically looked at as this was the basic 4x5 wooden/metal box camera.

In this image below he has taken an image of children sleeping on the streets. He could have set up his camera captured the empathetic image and left without any of the children being aware of his presence due to their tired weak state which again to me means that this image counts as a candid photograph.

 

Image labelled: How the other half lived.

These series of images was published in a book in 1890 in which he includes his images from 1870-1890

Photo credit: kottke.org

 

I have chosen to represent one of his documentary photos so you can see an image in which he had to use the flash powder to capture the intense conditions of some slums in America also posted in his book ' How the other half lived'.

 

Image labelled: lodgers in a crowded Bayard street, tenement.

Photo credit: www.smithsonianmag.com

 

 

1860

10 Years later the process had not become any quicker as photographers were still using similar cameras. The main 'portable' camera that was available to capture detailed images was the daguerreotype wet plate camera in which only a shot at a time was possible in therefore the shot needed a lot of time to be thought into it and the chemical process in itself was time consuming to both prepare and develop the plate for an image.

 

This is an example of a wet plate daguerreotype from the 1860's.

Photo credit: www.liveauctioneers.com

 

Mathew Brady very much like Rodger Fenton was sent to document the civil war after American forces became criticised. War photography also allowed people of the country to see the effects of the war and boosted peoples spirits in backing their side...However this also caused a lot of anxiety in the public as the photos were published.

In this image we see two soldiers take a break from fighting to have a social smoke together. Again this image becomes Candid only literally as both of the subjects seem unaware of having there photo taken whether this is so or not we cant tell as the photo could have been staged however in the modern day it gives the impression of a candid image.

 

The photo is labelled: Union soldiers 1864

Photo credit: www.history.com

 

Sending photographers out to document wars became more popular as it allowed the people not involved to really see what was happening during the war and this had both positive and negative effects for everyone involved as sometimes the image were used to shame other sides where in other cases the photos were sent back to boost the public at home's confidences.

 

Another photographer involved with war photography in the 1860's was John Reekie.

This image could be arguably a candid image as we see a man who could or could not be aware that his image is being taken as it is hard to distinguish his eye contact. However there are subjects in the background of the image who seem completely unaware that they are about to be frozen in time and this for me makes this image part of the candid genre very briefly.

 

 

The image is labelled: Burial party cold Harbor 1865

Photo credit: en.wikipedia.org

 



1850

In the early 1800's Candid photography was hardly existent as it took so long to take an image that it was hard to do the whole camera set up and preparation's without your models noticing. Action shots were out of the question as again the time it would take for an i8mage would outlive the split second the photographer would try to capture.

 

However there was a beginning to candid photography through war as people had so much to focus on in the battle field that a man with a camera seemed like the least of their worries and got little attention. This was the start to the birth of candid photography.

 

Rodger Fenton was sent to document the Crimean war which lasted 1853-1946. There was speculation and criticism on how the English were contributing and dealing with the war and so he was sent by the English to document the war through photography and send his images back.

 

This is one of his images which appears to be candid as we see none of the subjects focus on the cameraman and they tend to the main issue which is the injured soldier therefore technically making this a candid photograph.

This image was taken in 1855 labelled: Injured zouave, Crimea.

Photo credit: redlist.com

Candid Photography Definition.

In Order to start my research on a true understanding I researched the real definition of Candid Photography.  This way I can make my research opinions and comments as accurate as possible in order to create an accurate conclusion about how the genre developed.

 

Definition:

 

'A Candid Photograph is a photograph in which there is no subject preparation and the image is captured either by surprising the subject or by taking an image without distracting the subject.'

 

Therefore a Candid image is technically a photograph in which the model or numerous models are not aware they are modelling at all. This could range from a beautiful accidental image or an image which had to be patiently and sometimes excruciatingly waited for. A Candid image is all about capturing the unaware and revealing natural natures in civilisations and social situations. This is to expose and reveal the characteristics of mainly human nature.