Candid vs. Posed:
Two Distinct Styles of Street Portraits

When capturing street portraits, there’s no true style or approach that makes it any more “authentic” or street-like than the other.

Like any art form, street photography is split into so many styles and approaches, and I for one love to see the variation.

It’s what sets street photographers apart and keeps things interesting.

Street portraits can be split into two main approaches: candid portraits and posed portraits.

There’s a clue in the title as to what the main difference is, but to make it totally clear for you:

Candid portraits are street photos that are taken without consent or notice to the subject.

Posed street portraits are taken with prior notice and with consent by the subject.

As I’ve briefly explained above, the idea with candid street photography is that images are captured without the subject’s prior notice.

So in some instances, the subject might not look in your direction and subsequently never know that their photo has been captured.

This makes candid portraits feel very mysterious sometimes, leaving you with questions about the subject and what they might be thinking, or where they might be heading to at the very moment.

In other cases, you might capture the subject as they are walking towards you or turning around in your direction. So this could result in some eye contact and interaction. The charm this brings to your portraits is an element of intrigue or surprise, which can look so cool.

The idea of candid portraits is that they are fleeting and often go unnoticed. But occasionally your subject will catch you in the act!

At this point, they may question your intention, so it’s always good to decide ahead of time how you want to deal with being confronted.

For instance (a) you show them the photo and tell them why you were so intrigued to take their photo.
Or (b) confidently move on as quickly as possible, as if you didn’t actually take their photo in a ninja stealth-like manner.

I don’t think there’s a hard and fast rule here and it’s down to how confident you feel about interacting with strangers.

In the past, I’ve done both — owning up to the photo with a big smile and it’s gone down well.

Often when I’m in a zone of concentration, I’ll act as though I haven’t taken a photo and just confidently wander away.

95% of the time, it works well to act as though I haven’t taken a photo. Then there’s the other 5% where I’ve had people react not so positively (in other words, I’ve been shouted at!) and had to take it on the chin that I didn’t read the situation as well as I could have.

It’s all a learning curve and the more you partake in street photography, the more you’ll work out how to “read the room”

I absolutely love capturing portraits and we do a lot of this for our commercial photography projects.

When capturing posed street portraits, it gives you a great opportunity to meet some really interesting people and share more than just a fleeting moment — a real insight into a person.

That conversation could make your day, or make theirs. There are SO MANY interesting people out there!

Just keep in mind, some people are happy to talk and share, while others prefer a little less conversation.

So it takes some skill to read the person you’re photographing and mirror the kind of interaction they feel comfortable with.

The best portraits come when people trust the person holding the camera. So your job is to make your subject trust you as quickly as possible.

I have to admit that a quirk of mine is that I can’t do both posed and candid on the same day. I find it too confusing to mentally process changing gears from introvert to extrovert.

When I’m capturing candid portraits, I stick in my earphones, listen to some music that gets me in the zone, and just switch off from anything that distracts me from what I see as an interesting frame.

With posed photos, you have to be ready to chat to anyone that captures your attention and quickly sell the idea of taking their portrait.

Just keep in mind, some people are happy to talk and share, while others prefer a little less conversation.

So there you have it, my go to tips on capturing posed and unposed street portraits.

It really doesn’t matter if you decide to pursue both methods, or either. It’s all down to enjoying what you capture and finding your flow with what allows you to stay in the moment to make frames that connect with you and the people you share your images with.

Good luck capturing those portraits, and if you need a little inspiration on locations, head over to our journal to see our post on a photographers guide: 13 of the Best Street Photography Locations in London.