Phrases like documentary, journalistic, candid, or impromptu can and do overlap, causing confusion. Some describe the differences like this: Documentary – aims to tell a deeper story over time. Journalistic – tends to relate more to news stories. Candid and impromptu are similar in that they are spontaneous but can have slight differences. Candid – usually taken without the subject knowing. Impromptu – also spontaneous, but the subject may know the image is being taken.
My view: Whether you wish to subscribe to those definitions or not, it mustn’t compromise your creative and rapid reactions upon seeing an image. Sometimes capture can be less spontaneous and more deliberate, like my image of this street food café in Vietnam.
However, what arose my curiosity here may be a lot less obvious to the viewer of the image. So, unless some supporting text, I’d say it’s falling over.
I’ll explain. The very traditional style, recipes, and method of cooking in this street food café sit opposite a modern-looking shop selling Apple Watches and MacBooks. The shop being so minimal in scale relative to the street food café at best weakens my primary point. At worst, it doesn’t deliver that message at all.
Bjorn.
