Snapshot (photography)

The girl was about to leave the car, she accidentally hit the horn, as the photographer already aimed the lens for a regular capture of her
Snapshots render memorable moments in imperfect images. Here, glare exposes the photographer and implies a close and familiar relationship to the subject.
Snapshot of a tourist taking a selfie.

A snapshot is a photograph that is "shot" spontaneously and quickly, most often without artistic or journalistic intent and usually made with a relatively cheap and compact camera.

Common snapshot subjects include the events of everyday life, often portraying family members, friends, pets, children playing, birthday parties and other celebrations, sunsets, tourist attractions and the like.

Snapshots can be technically "imperfect" or amateurish: poorly framed or composed, out of focus, and/or inappropriately lighted by flash. Automated settings in consumer cameras have helped to obtain a technologically balanced quality in snapshots. Use of such settings can reveal the lack of expert choices that would entail more control of the focus point and shallower depth of field to achieve more pleasing images by making the subject stand out against a blurred background.

Snapshot photography can be considered the purest form[citation needed] of photography in providing images with the characteristics that distinguish photography from other visual media — its ubiquity, instantaneity, multiplicity and verisimilitude.[1]

  1. ^ The Snapshot Aesthetic Museum of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles