Something funny is happening to photography.
After years of perfectly curated feeds, matching outfits, spotless homes and everyone smiling directly at the camera… we're getting a little tired of perfect. And apparently, it's not just photography.
2026 is getting a little more… real.
Pinterest's 2026 trend report found people are craving comfort, nostalgia and simpler everyday rituals. Analog hobbies are having a moment. Physical photo albums, old digital cameras and other decidedly non-new things are popping back up.
Even social media is shifting. Recent consumer research found that 72% of people consider authenticity important before they'll even follow a creator.
Basically: we've spent years polishing everything.
Now we're craving things that actually feel like something.
Enter candid photography.
Family photography is shifting in the same direction.
Instead of perfectly posed portraits, more photographers are documenting movement, interaction and the weird little moments that happen between the “good” pictures:
Kids running out of frame.
Windblown hair.
A toddler refusing to participate.
Someone laughing with their whole face.
Even a little motion blur or grain.
Interestingly, one of 2026's most talked-about photography competitions was built entirely around bad photos — celebrating crooked, blurry and imperfect images for the stories they tell. Maybe we're finally realizing that technically perfect and emotionally important aren't always the same thing.
And honestly? I'm here for it.
Especially when we're photographing childhood, because childhood isn't particularly polished.
It's loud and fast and sticky and constantly changing. And twenty years from now, I have a feeling the photograph that gets you won't necessarily be the one where everyone was looking at the camera. Or, it might be the one where nobody was.
So yes, we'll still get a beautiful portrait.... but I'm keeping the weird ones, too.
— Kay
Understory Photography
Authentic storytelling photography in Campbell River, BC
