Henri Cartier-Bresson is a well known and successful photojournalism photographer. The Paris born man was the co-founder of the successful Magnum Photos Agency.

He used to be an ordinary photographer until he saw a certain image. In fact he was moved by a picture that was taken by Martin Munkacsi. This 1930’s picture had many tones and contrasts, that fascinated Cartier-Bresson. He stated: “I must say that it is that very photography which was for me the spark that set fire to fireworks”. He referred to the picture below:

“As far as I am concerned, taking photographs is a means of understanding which cannot be separated from other means of visual expression. It is a way of shouting, of freeing oneself, not of proving or asserting one’s own originality. It is a way of life.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson.

He first wanted to be known as a ‘Surrealism’ photographer, but was soon told that that wouldn’t be very successful as the world wouldn’t take that title seriously. Therefore he changed it to ‘Photojournalist’ and then he continued his passion.

His first book was called ‘Decisive moments’. It was what established him as a photographer and inspired many other people. Cartier-Bresson photographs people in a ‘candid’ way that reflects onto his photojournalism. His amazing work got him known as on of the ‘Fathers of Photojournalism’, which is a great honor. Here’s a picture from the 1st book:

He got his title ‘The decisive moment’ from the following quote: “There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment”, which was said by a 17th century French Cardinal.

I think that the picture above is a great photojournalism picture. The two extremes add impact and create polarization. Polarization is two completely different concepts and views of each other. In this case the two main things are war and peace. The men on the left are holding sharp weapons and are pointing them in an aggressive fashion. Meanwhile the woman on the right looks completely relaxes and innocent. Her non-malicious body language demonstrates that she is completely at ease. This is great because it portrays a very interesting meaning. The woman may be trying to communicate that she see’s beauty in the littlest things, such as the flower she’s holding. Cartier-Bresson has maintained a great composition by balancing the two ideals in a symmetrical manner. The leading lines are also efficient and work well as the weapons point to the woman and the flower points to the men. Symbolically, weapons are a representation of the following: war, aggression, male power, power, anger, defense, pain, revenge, sacrifice, betrayal and more. On the other hand, flowers represent the following: happiness, freedom, nature, natural, patient, cheerful, life, innocence, hope, health, everlasting love, friendship, devotion, sympathy, youth, devotion, faithfulness and more. Therefore, the two majorly different ideals create a very fascinating photograph.

Here are some other famous pictures of his:

“Of all means of expression, photography is the only one that fixes a precise moment in time” – Henri Cartier-Bresson.

“In photography, the smallest thing can become a big subject, an insignificant human detail can become a leitmotiv” – Henri Cartier-Bresson. A ‘Leitmotiv’ is defined as: ‘A recurrent theme that’s associated with a particular person, idea or subject’.

I found a website that includes 29 of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s best quotes: http://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/blog/12018/29-quotes-by-photographer-henri-cartier-bresson/