Henri Cartier-Bresson was a french, human photographer, who was born on the 22nd of August 1908. He died on the 3rd of August 2004. He started working on photography in 1930. He was credited with pioneering the genre of street photography. He viewed street photography as capturing a decisive moment. The phrase “decisive moment” is now used often in street photography and refers to when the image represents the essence of the event happening within the image. During Henri-Cartier Bresson’s life he created a few different books, mostly full of images he had taken from different areas in photography, one of these was called “The Decisive Moment”.

This is a moodboard of some of my favourite images that Bressen took to do with street photography.

Technical: This image uses light very consistently throughout. This can be seen due to the background sky and wall being almost the same colour with the foreground also being a very similar shade of white. This could have been created using natural lighting and a high ISO.

Visual: This image varies the tone throughout, with the majority being very brightly coloured and some coloured areas being grey or black. This image displays form and depth really well. This could be due to the darker colours creating a path of rubble down between the buildings.

Contextual: This image seems to have been taken after some kind of bombing or war. We know this due to the rubble covering the street between the buildings and the big hole that the image is being taken through that is in a weird shape. This image also gives a war-torn impression due to the children all having confused and sad faces throughout the image.

Conceptual: The image clearly displays a place that was destroyed during some kind of war. The photographer may have decided to take this image due to show some of the impacts that war can have on towns. The use of children looking sad makes it seem like these were places they lived, along with the rubble along the ground.

Alfred Krupp by Arnold Newman

Emotional Response:

• This image is sinister and uncomfortable.
• Alfred looks intimidating and scary through his facial expressions and is shown to be a man of some power or authority through wearing a suit which creates a rather threatening character.

Technical:

• Symmetry.
• Contrast (top/bottom).
• Wide angle lens.
• Strong sense of perspective.

Visual:

• Man in the middle of the image (displays dominance).
• Alfred Krupp looks menacing and intimidating, represented also by the darkness and shadow surrounding his figure in the image.
• Relatively dull image with dirty colours, no vibrance .
• Strong eye-contact with camera (audience).

Concept:

• Arnold Newman was a Jewish photographer who took this image as a way of “revenge” on Alfred Krupp.
• The photograph was set up to make Alfred Krupp look evil.

Context:

• Arnold Newman wanted a sort of revenge on the Nazis, as the train station shown in the background of this image was used transport vast numbers of Jews to concentration camps across the country were many would meet their ends.