I have a sneaky suspicion that when we’re old and grey one day, reminiscing about the past whilst paging through aged photo albums, that the pictures we’ll cherish the most will be the candid shots.
The posed picture-perfect family photos that could have appeared in a magazine will be nice, but they won’t make us smile as much as the natural, non-posed shots: hurriedly taken pictures of kids throwing their heads back laughing; a characteristic shy glance to the side; a quick squeeze of the hand before the big event; the triumphant toddler smiling out at us from the potato cupboard; a twinkle in the eye after a naughty comment etc. These are what memories are made of. These are the photos that have emotions attached to them. They have the power to give us something to hold on to or to make us feel nostalgic. They make us laugh, cry or feel satisfied. Those are the photos that I want to take, the ones that make memories live on.
One of my favourite photos is one that was taken when some guys photo-bombed the kids I was about to photograph. These friendly strangers were only there for a second or two as they rushed to catch their taxi, seen in the background. I barely had time to focus and frame the shot after registering that they were there, but it worked thankfully. I love the look on the children’s faces- a mixture or surprise, amusement and curiosity. This is the South Africa that I love, spontaneous and fun-loving. This is an image I will look at one day and smile (o:
Have you had any similar experiences?
— K.
