Why I love Henri Cartier-Bresson
Founding father of the decisive moment
Roaming the streets capturing shots of people in the middle of life tells a story of the moment. You capture someone unrehearsed without them knowing that the story they have to tell is unique and unmatched to any other’s story. This is what Henri Cartier-Bresson, French Photographer, loved to do— find moments that couldn’t be told twice. He loved to capture the decisive moment. That moment that makes you think if an action is worthy of lifting your camera to capture a story.
Not only was he the pioneer of street photography, he was one of the founding members of Magnum photos in 1947. He was one of the first to use 35 mm film— a technique one must hone to capture up-close images in the moment. This might be hard for people who want to go unnoticed as your subjects might turn around to catch you taking their picture. However, the final results of Cartier-Bresson’s photos are worth the shot as they tell vivid stories that can never be recaptured.
If you look closely at these pictures, they all say something unique about the moment They are mysterious as the film captures the lights and shadows with details about a day in the life of each group or individual. The picture of the men eating a picnic evoke a time when hard workers would take a break during mid day to eat their meals. It looks like a relaxing experience as they momentarily took their mind off of their work to enjoy the fresh air, nature and the meal with people they like to be around.
Similarly, the picture of the women grooming themselves might have caught the photographer off guard as he meant to take a candid photo with out the women noticing they were being documented. You can see the comradery as they are taking care of each other and grooming themselves maybe for a night out or even just spending time together to gossip about the latest events in town.
The whole in the wall, also opens a window to a scene of children playing in the rubble. This asks the question as to why are the children playing in a dirty street? Might have there been a tragedy in the neighborhood? What happened to the child on crutches? Yet, with so much chaos in the world, children still find the time in their hearts to be playful and make the best of every opportunity with each other as they make new memories before night sets and they must go home.
Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photos inspire curiosity. At least, I feel encouraged by his art to go out for a walk almost everyday to find a unique story to tell that I might never have the opportunity to capture again.
Now I ask, what could you say with your camera? What are the type of stories you would like to tell others? What type of emotion would you like to evoke or thoughts would like like to provoke in the minds of your audience? This is why I love Cartier-Bresson. His photos would make you think about others and their stories as life takes its own course to share with the world.
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Thanks again,
Rosa de Saron C.
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