Candid — A Vocabulary Story
The Photographer of Reykjavík
Hui adjusted her camera as the Icelandic wind tugged at her scarf. She had travelled from Singapore to photograph puffins, but her cousin Patrick, twelve and bored, kept wandering into every shot.
"Stand still or step aside," she laughed.
"I'd rather be in the picture," Patrick said. "A candid one. Not posed."
Candid means truthful and straightforward.
Hui lowered her lens. "You know what candid means?"
"Natural. Unplanned." He shrugged. "Mum says I'm too candid sometimes, when I tell people exactly what I think."
"Being candid isn't a flaw," Hui replied. "My best photographs are candid ones. People forget the camera, and then you see who they really are."
They hiked along the cliffs, salt spray rising below them. Patrick spotted a fisherman mending nets near a faded red boat, his weathered hands moving with practised rhythm.
"Ask if I can photograph him," Hui whispered.
Patrick approached, gave a candid grin, and explained in slow English. The fisherman nodded, then returned to his work as though they weren't there.
Hui clicked quietly. The fisherman's face, lined and thoughtful, filled the frame. It was the most candid portrait she had taken all week.
Later, over cocoa in a harbour café, Patrick flipped through her digital gallery. He paused at one image: himself, mid-laugh, hair wild, completely unaware of the lens.
"That one," he said. "That's the keeper."
Word Definition
candid
meaning
truthful and straightforward
synonyms
frank · honest · open · blunt · outspoken
antonyms
guarded · deceitful · quiet
example sentence
She gave a candid interview about her life.