Snapshot Aesthetic
A deliberate adoption of the informal look of amateur photography — casual framing, direct flash, apparent artlessness.
In depth
Emerging in the 1960s and 70s, the approach rejected the polished print in favour of immediacy and intimacy, treating apparent carelessness as a mark of authenticity. Its practitioners were rarely careless; the informality is a construction, which is precisely the tension that makes the work interesting.
Examples in practice
Direct on-camera flash at a party, tilted framing and cropped limbs signal immediacy rather than incompetence.