I will venture back into the water having survived the first attempt
without drowning.
I believe that Shell's comment below and the thread that it spawned
illustrates the point that the term "snapshot" is without a singular
meaning despite attempts in this thread to assign one. It appears to be
an ambiguous term that must rely on the context of its usage or the
words surrounding it to supply the proper defitinition.
In the sentence "It is just a snpashot." it appears to be perjorative
but how much so is unclear without more context. However it is clear
that it is not a positive expression. In a number of instances one will
use the term snapshot instead of photograph because it is believed by
some that the latter term conveys a higher status (or the former term a
lower one).
In the case of Robert Capa's "Death of a Loyalist Soldier", I believe
that you could correctly call that a snapshot as it was almost certainly
taken quickly and without a lot of thought or time to prepare for that
particular instance. On the other hand I do believe as others have
stated that there was a lot of preparation just through his experience
leading to that moment but using the term in this case just describes
the mechanics involved and implies no value judgement.
Finally, in the case of Shel's comment that inspired this thread, I
believe that it was being used as merely a synonym for photo or
photograph and implied no meaning whatsoever.
That is the conclusion, if one is needed, that I draw from this
interesting discussion.
Larry
The water is fine but it appears to be getting deeper over here...
Hmmm ... Elliott Erwitt takes a lot of snaps. His nickname - which he
sometimes stamped his work with - is "Snaps." Many well known photos have
been described as snapshots, by the photographer who took them to others
who have commented upon them
To suggest that it's a derogatory term is painting the subject with way too
broad a brush, especially when not looked at in context.
To some, and more specifically me, the use of the word "snapshot" is
complimentary to a degree. It's a good example of a basic, perhaps simple,
subject made with appreciation for the subject but not necessarily with the
intent of making any kind of statement, more a recording of a scene The
term "nice family snap ..." is certainly not derogatory.
Shel
[Original Message]
From: Jostein
I would never have dared to classify another photograper's image as a
snapshot, though. In the context of commenting someone's pictures, I
think it is a very derogatory term. It's like saying "yeah, I can see
you didn't really think before shooting this".
