Candid Photography as an Art Form

Candid Photography as an Art form

I'm writing this because someone involved with an ART League said "I have never see a photograph take first place in an Art Show". Candid photography as an Art Form stands in a niche all of its own as does the other art medias. If a judge or a jury does not understand what is involved in candid photography as an art form then it will never win in a show that combines all media.

I don't consider myself an expert in the field but I know what is involved in getting a candid photograph that would be considered other than a snapshot. I'm getting the impression that photography as an art form is tolerated but not accepted as an Art Form from the artists that work with models, paint, pastels etc...

I feel that I have to explain the difference between Candid Photography Art and the other art forms. First of all the subject, the composition the color and the technique used are some if not all the considerations included in the art forms that fall in the drawing or painting art forms, maybe even sculpture. you don't even have to know how to draw. These art forms generally use a model as a subject or their imagination. They can choose the subject, the color the composition and anything else they want their finished product to show or emphasize. All they need is readily available to them or a phone call away, Not so with photography.

Candid Photography as an Art Form, is I'll admit part luck but its calculated luck. You put yourself in a place or position that gives you the greatest chance of capturing a subject that suits your eye, or at least comes close to what you're looking for. If you find something of interest you can't pose it you have to take it as it is or have the patience of a saint to wait it out until it gives you an opportunity for a reasonable shot. If it's the type of subject that is movable then you have fractions of a second to compose the shot set the focus and shoot it. If you have the wrong lens at the time or the lighting isn't the best you don't have time to change it, you do the best you can with what you have. You can't control the lighting unless you spend the time to determine when is the best time to get the shot you want with the best lighting. It's the most frustrating art media I have ever dealt with. To come up with a truly candid artistic photograph you might be lucky if you get the opportunity to come up with one acceptable shot out of hundreds. Whereas when I was involved with watercolor or pastels or stained glass I didn't have to leave my home and be reasonably sure that I would end up with an acceptable finished product the first time. I didn't have to travel hundreds of miles to have a reasonable opportunity to find suitable subjects to photograph. I refer to candid photography as it doesn't compare to photography in a studio where the subject is known and posed and the lighting is set properly. You can't take a Photograph of your imagination. It is my opinion that a good photographic artist has to have the eyes of an eagle to be able to focus and see its subject at the best angle in order to capture it, the speed of a mongoose avoiding the bite of a cobra , the patience of a saint and the dexterity to utilize their equipment available to them at the moment instantly and correctly.