Welcome to the Plandid Renaissance
A plandid is exactly what it sounds like 一 a planned candid. Anyone who’s anyone has been taking them well, since the camera was invented. But these “fake authentic” pictures are making a major comeback. Why?
Pre Smartphone Era
Plandids are all the hype now, but they existed even before Kim K hit the scene. Perhaps the earliest and most iconic plandid belongs to Marilyn Monroe.
Back in 1954, Ms. Monroe graced us with her unforgettable flying skirt picture. This moment was actually split into two separate shoots, there was one for movie footage, and the other, a photoshoot for promotional images. During the promotional photoshoot, the beloved actress was asked to recreate the original “candid” movie footage. And from that photoshoot came the following plandid:
These types of photos were typically only taken of celebrities 一 people who could afford professional photo shoots.
But why planned candids? The majority of people can tell the difference between a forced pose and a genuine one. And obviously, people prefer authenticity. So to “humanize” celebrities, photographers needed their super-star models to look as “un-posed” as possible to appeal to the public eye.
Combine that “planned authenticity” with top-of-the-line, high-quality cameras, and you’ll have everyone fawning.
Modern day
Fast forward to the iPhone era, and better camera technology and distribution platforms are in our pockets. Now that the middle-man is cut out of the picture, anyone can single-handedly look like a celebrity.
Enter social media influencers.
Sarah Grace Spann, otherwise known as freshfitnhealthy on Instagram, started using the app to share her health journey 一 and had no intentions of becoming an influential figure in the world of fitness. Her inspiring posts caught the attention of people all over the world, and over time, she built up a loyal community of 80 thousand followers and counting.
Why is the trend so popular now? According to Sarah,
“In a social media world that is all planned out and “artificial” to some extent, and constantly asking us to buy or invest time into something, plandids give a sense of relatability and authenticity which makes us more likely to “opt in” (whether that be simply commenting to answer the question, or buying what they are offering), despite still being planned.”
She also added,
“I think plandids will definitely continue to gain popularity. In such a planned-out, highlight-realm only world, we as humans naturally gravitate towards the plandids that aren’t perfect and look genuine.”
Comparison
Just for fun, here’s a comparison of two plandids, one from a social media influencer, and the other, a world renown super model:
If you couldn’t differentiate between the two: the plandid on the left belongs to IMG model, Bella Hadid, and the plandid on the right is taken from YouTuber, Arden Cho’s Instagram.
Did you catch the difference? Probably not.
Wrapping up
Plandids have been around for a while, but with social media and iPhones making it possible for anyone to look and/or become a celebrity, they’re more prominent than ever.
