He was a French humanist photographer who worked within street photography and it well known for his ‘decisive moment’ technique.
Decisive Moment-In 1952 Henri Cartier-Bresson, a founder of modern photojournalism, proposed one of the most fascinating and highly debated concepts in the history of photography: “the decisive moment.” This moment occurs when the visual and psychological elements of people in a real life scene spontaneously and briefly come together in perfect resonance to express the essence of that situation. Some people believe that the unique purpose of photography, as compared to other visual arts, is to capture this fleeting, quintessential, and holistic instant in the flow of life. For this reason, many photographers often mention the decisive moment, or similar ideas about capturing the essence of a transitory moment, when they describe their work.
Born in Chanteloup-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, Henri Cartier-Bresson developed a strong fascination with painting early on, and particularly with Surrealism. In 1932, after spending a year in the Ivory Coast, he discovered the Leica – his camera of choice after that moment – and began a life-long passion for photography. In 1933, he had his first exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York. He later made films with Jean Renoir.
Taken prisoner of war in 1940, he escaped on his third attempt in 1943 and subsequently joined an underground organization to assist prisoners and escapees. In 1945, he photographed the liberation of Paris with a group of professional journalists and then filmed the documentary Le Retour (The Return).
In 1947, with Robert Capa, George Rodger, David ‘Chim’ Seymour and William Vandivert, he founded Magnum Photos. After three years he had spent travelling in the East, in 1952, he returned to Europe, where he published his first book, Images à la Sauvette (published in English as The Decisive Moment). He explained his approach to photography in these terms, ‘”For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.”
From 1968, he began to curtail his photographic activities, preferring to concentrate on drawing and painting. In 2003, with his wife and daughter, he created the Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris for the preservation of his work. Cartier-Bresson received an extraordinary number of prizes, awards, and honorary doctorates. He died at his home in Provence on 3 August 2004, a few weeks short of his 96th birthday.
Behind the Gare St. Lazare 1932
Technical
This photo was purely natural lighting, no flash, it appears to me it was bright day due to the definite shadows. The contrast is prominent between the light and dark areas created by the black and white filter. Due to Henri’s use of the decisive moment approach he doesn’t appear to have huge amounts of control over the positioning of the the people in this shoot and what they are doing. On the other hand he could control the lens which was 35 mm, also he positioned himself in a way in which the mans reflection was captured. He had a relatively slow shutter speed as the man appears to be slightly blurry as hes running, but at the same time it’s not too low as the ripples in the puddles are clear. The colour cast is dark, creating a cold tone to the photo. In some areas its slightly over exposed but the black and white makes its hardly noticeable. The focal point for me is the man running as Henri only took this photo at that decisive moment in which the man was running otherwise it would be bare. The blurriness of the mans silhouette works well in contrast with the sharp detailed surrounding.
Visual
The texture in this photo varies throughout, for instance the water ripples, the pile of rubble, the wall plastered in photos and the metal railing. Although there are many different textures in this one image they work well, there doesn’t appear to be any tensions between them, as well as the background and foreground there is harmony between them and they merge into one another effectively. There is a clear black and white filter on this photo, as well as that there is a rule of thirds which creates an element of structure and timing to the photo. I wouldn’t say there is a leading eye but the first thing that attracts me to this image is the blurred mans so there is an area of interest in the photo.
Contextual
The Gare Saint-Lazare (St Lazarus Station), officially Paris-Saint-Lazare, is one of the six large terminus railway stations of Paris. It is the second busiest station in Paris, after the Gare du Nord. It handles 275,000 passengers each day. The station was designed by architect Juste Lisch, and the maître de l’oeuvre (general contractor) was Eugene Flachat.
I have chosen to go in the direction of either strong shapes (e.g. buildings) or showing people’s lives either in commute or their workplace.
However, I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to follow the common theme of making the photos black & white as I think leaving the colour in the photo will help it be both more eye catching, as well as helping portray certain aspects such as colours wearing out (which you can’t see in black & white).
Street photography, also sometimes called candid photography, is photography conducted for art or inquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places.
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” – Elliott Erwitt
“It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.”- Alfred Eisenstaedt
“I love the people I photograph. I mean, they’re my friends. I’ve never met most of them or I don’t know them at all, yet through my images I live with them.” – Bruce Gilden
Threshold Concept 7:
Chance plays an important role in photography , to some extent all photographs are the result of chance processes. a good photographer must have the ability to embrace chance processes in the creation of photographs, welcoming ambiguity, playfulness, serendipity,risk and not knowing in order to discover something new, recognizing discoveries when they materialise.
After contacting multiple people to see who was willing to be involved in a photoshoot, I was finally able to get hold of a dog walker.
WHAT am I photographing?
During this photoshoot I was planning to capture a very regular walk , the everyday typical working day of the subject.
WHEN am I doing the photoshoot?
I chose to do this photoshoot during early/ late morning as I felt that I could get the best, most bright images during this time of day.
WHERE did I conduct this photoshoot?
In order to get the most interesting images, I visited two locations, a wooded area in Trinity and also Bouley Bay.
WHY did I conduct this photoshoot in this way?
I thought that the images I’d take during this photoshoot would be a lot more interesting as there are more than one subject in the image. There are dogs which would add an element of action to all the images.
HOW did I produce the images?
For this photoshoot, due to the bright weather conditions of the day, I used a sun hood on my camera to avoid over exposure of the images. I introduced a power complex to the images, taking the images from a low angle.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF IMAGES;
TECHNICAL:
This photoshoot was quite tough in terms of exposure to capture properly. It was early morning when I went out to capture these images. I was expecting cloudy weather, with very diffused, soft natural light, yet the day was only partially cloudy therefore there would be moments when the sun was very strong and I would be forced to manually change my exposure and shutter speed settings. This in turn made a lot of the images have motion blur due to the moving of the dogs and walking to capture the images. I therefore used a sun hood in order to stop this from happening, making a lot of the images very dramatic in lighting. During this photoshoot I also had keep in front of the subjects in order to allow them to look into the camera and make eye contact. There is no real composition to any of the photos as they were captured in the middle of an action, sometimes stopping to again make eye contact with the camera. Also due to the fact that I constantly had to keep in front of the subjects, I had to walk quite a distance in front of them meaning I used a long-focus lense, this allowed me to retain the quiality of the images even when I zoomed in on the subjects. It was also useful as it was a better lense for capturing action shots. As for camera settings, I mostly used the M (manual) setting, due to the constant changing of light in the environment, being dark in the wooded area and very bright on the beach. I used a shutter speed of 1/800 as this allowed we to capture, crisp and clear images even when the dogs and the subject was moving around. I used exposures of f8 during cloudier periods of time and f16 when it was sunnier as this meant that the images weren’t over or underexposed during specific weather conditions. As for white balance, I kept it on the daylight setting as I thought this was the most effective and allowed me to capture images that are balanced.
VISUAL:
During this photoshoot, the hardest aspect was definitely having reoccurring eye contact with the subjects. Due to the chaotic nature of this photoshoot, and having to run in front of the subject to capture them, it was hard to remind the subject to look at the camera. For the image below, I asked the subjects to stay still and look at me, I felt that this was a very successful image due to the ominous and dark atmosphere it has. There is a real sense of depth in this image, as the first subject is in the foreground of the image, the second being in the miground and the trees in the background. It is in a way a parallel image is it seems like the subject in the foreground is duplicated in the midground but flipped around to make eye contact with the camera. I edited the image and made it black and white as I felt this was the most suitable for this photo and the atmosphere it has. To remain consistent I did this for all my images. This image is extremely dramatic in nature, not only coming from the dim surroundings but also the facial expression of the subject. It is quite blank, with no noticeable feeling being captured, fitting well with the overall theme of this photoshoot. The angle of the image is quite central, slightly upwards facing. This further adds to the powerful presence of the subjects in the image. Both the subjects have a neutral stance, simply standing straight, yet the combined stance of them adds to an overall alluring image. The trees situated in the background of the image, break up the even surface of the coats of the subjects, adding additional captivating elements to the portrait. The light is hitting from the top left hand corner of the image, illuminating the face of the first subject yet keeping it dark for the second subject.
CONCEPTUAL:
During this photoshoot, the main concept I was wanting to capture was lifestyle and class in Jersey. This is island is filled with natural beauty, with beaches and natural landscapes all around. The subject who makes a living, spending their days in the outdoors to me is very admirable, as it is a job unlike most in jersey. Having a notably large financial sector, most people work in jobs which forces them to be stationary, not seeing the real jersey. This ties in to a much larger issue of people becoming disconnected from nature and the outdoors. This having many adverse effects, such as poor mental and physical health. Jobs like this are often seen as low class, yet it is on the simple tasks that often play an essential role in society. Very class, poor and rich have a place in society, being the mechanism which makes it run like it does. I feel as though this photoshoot also has links to gender, and gender roles. It is often expected that women hold lower level, less roles in authority, which this photoshoot enforces slightly. Should we really be enforcing traditional gender roles? It is not always something that I am against for. Different jobs express the true nature of the genders, males being naturally more dominant and lead better, and women generally being nurturing and caring. However it may enforce this, I feel this job is admirable in the sense that it lets the subject maintain good mental and physical health through the constant exposure to nature.
CONTEXTUAL:
Both subjects in this photoshoot are my own personal family members. The woman (my mother) has a big love for animals, especially dogs. She holds a job as a nursery school teacher during the weekdays and choosing to take dogs out for walks on the weekend. She was born in Latvia, in a small town near the border of Russia in the 1970s. Her farther being a forest ranger, she grew up inside a forest, contributing to her love of nature and all things outdoors. She grew up in communist soviet state of Russia, therefore being very limited to any outside knowledge before the 1990s when the state finally collapsed and she was able to travel for the very first time to other European countries. Latvia, after being in financial collapse throughout the 2000s, made it very tough for my family to remain living it Latvia, legally moving to jersey in 2012. The other subject in the photo is my brother. Being a few years older than me, he has started his own professional career in mechanics. Growing up in a rural town, he also from a very young agr acquired love for nature, often saying that he can’t “function before having a walk”.
“There are many things that are very false about photography when it is accepted without question. You must recognize and interpret it as you would any other art form, and then maybe it is a little more than real.” – Arnold Newman
A Brief Biography:
Arnold Abner Newman (3 March 1918 – June 6, 2006) was an American Photographer, noted for his “environmental portraits” of artists and politicians. He was also known for his carefully composed abstract still life images. In 1936, he studied painting and drawing at the University of Miami. Unable to afford continuing after two years, he moved to Philadelphia to work for a studio, making 49-cent portraits in 1938. Newman is often credited with being the first photographer to use so-called Environmental Portraiture in which the photographer places the subject in a carefully controlled setting to capture the essence of the individual’s life and work. Newman normally captured his subjects in their most familiar surroundings with representative visual elements showing their professions and personalities. Newman’s best-known images were in black and white, although he often photographed in color. His 1946 black and white portrait of Igor Stravinsky seated at a grand piano became his signature image. Among Newman’s best-known color images is an eerie portrait from 1963 that shows former Nazi industrialist and minister of armament Alfred Krupp in one of Krupp’s factories. Newman admits his personal feelings influenced his portrayal of Krupp.
Key Photographs:
Arnold Newman | Key Photographs
These are some of the key photographs taken by Arnold Newman, these include his most famous photographs such as the photo of Igor Stravinsky at the grand piano. As well as his most well known colour photograph of Alfred Krupp. Some of the other photographs include those of other well known faces that he worked with such as Salvador Dali.
In Depth Analysis of a Photograph:
Arnold Newman | Alfred Krupp | 1963Discussed Analysis
Emotional Response: As a first impression and response to this photograph I feel it very intimidating due to the darkness and the stance of the man. It feels like a very busy photograph which I don’t particularly like about the photograph it’s very dark and can almost make me feel uncomfortable.
Technical: There is a sense of artificial lighting in the foreground of the photograph which is positioned on the man, it’s a sense of symmetrical lighting as Newman placed two lights either side of Krupp facing each other. In the background of the photograph there is a use of the natural light coming in through the windows. There is a strong perspective and large depth of field as well the image shows areas of symmetry such as with the windows and the trains either side of Krupp who is positioned as the center focus point. Krupp also has a strong gaze engaging with the camera.
Visual Elements: There are strong lines on the windows of the ceiling and the back wall which lead your eye across and through the photograph to a certain point. Also seeing that strong sense of symmetry throughout the photograph with the lines on the lights and the trains and structures either side of the photograph. Visually it is a very dark photograph there is a lot of dark tones created by the very deep black shadows in the corners of the photograph as well as up into the sides.
Context: Alfred Krupp allegedly used slave labour to produce weapons and trains for the Nazi’s. Despite later being convicted of crimes against humanity and being sentenced to twelve years imprisonment, he had been pardoned after a mere three years. Newman himself was a Jew promised to make Krupp look evil and like the devil.
Conceptual: Newman being a Jew himself aimed to make Krupp look as evil as possible to shine him in the bad light and visualize him as the evil man he is for what he did. Newman expressed his vision that Krupp was a truly evil man. Newman saw it as his own way of gaining poetic justice. One way that he did this was with the shadows that come down on his face as Newman made Krupp lean forward to create this.
A Video Describing and Analyzing the works of Arnold Newman
For my response to environmental portraiture i decided to visit the markets throughout town in order to have an open view of someones work environment. Of the images that I took, the ones I liked the most and decided to work back into/ retouch are images 9839, 9843, 9844, 9845, 9847 and 9853.
I decided to stick to light-room for the image editing for these images as I think that the images only really needed light retouching in areas such as exposure adjustments and slight changes to the saturation. I have cropped the images to better fit in line with the golden ratio however the preservation of the background was prioritized over the the rule of thirds as i believe that the background is more important for an effective environmental portrait.
Of the photo-shoot my favorite images are those taken at the fish market as i like the interaction between the workers and the relationship that is shown int the images. I like how the images show how the owners/ workers in the more humble shops/ stalls are so passionate about their jobs and I feel this creates a good sense of community which is shown in the images.
An environmental portrait has the same idea as a standard portrait, but this time the photograph is normally taken where your subject spends most of their time. Often, its somewhere relevant to that particular persons passions and interests in their life. For example if you were to photograph an artist you would capture them whilst in their working environment, i.e. their studio and take picture of them working. In addition there are hundred and hundred of different types of environmental portrait all capture different feelings and different ideas. Although for this to classify as a environmental portrait its essential that the subject is making clear eye contact with the camera whist doing the action of their work. This is a key point for the photograph to count as an environmental portrait. A good portrait should bring out the subjects personality in a stylized way, it should be an exaggeration.
Street photography is a category of photography that is not pre-planned or prepared and relies on chance encounters with people in public places as they go about their days. Candid photography is simply photography where the subject/environment is not planned or changed for the photograph.
Street photography is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places.
Street Photography is a sub-genre of photojournalism…
Street photography does not necessitate the presence of a street or even the urban environment. The concept of the “flaneur” or people watcher is often referred to…as is the candid portrait.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Blog Post 1 : Define, describe and explain street photography.
And what is a candid photograph?
Include images, moodboards, hyperlinks to relevant articles and URLs and add a video or two on street photography…
Add quotes about street photography
add THRESHOLD CONCEPT # 7
Blog Post 2 :
Henri Cartier – Bresson and
“The Decisive Moment”
Create a blog post / case study about HenriCartier-Bresson that includes…
Brief biography
Mood-board of key images
Select one image and apply Technical | Visual | Contextual | Conceptual analysis
His contribution to MAGNUM Photo Agency
Add any other relevant research / insights
Then Compare and Contrast Cartier- Bresson to one (or more) of the following street photographers…
William Klein
Diane Arbus
Vivian Maier
Robert Frank
Bruce Gilden
Martin Parr
Saul Leiter
William Eggleston
Gordon Parks
John Bulmer
Trent Parke
Garry Winogrand
Raghubir Singh
Lee Friedlander
Joel Meyerowitz
Tony Ray-Jones
Bill Owens
Discuss in detail the differences / similarities / intentions / outcomes and of course the photographer’s technical and visual approach.
Bill OwensWilliam Klein
Technique : Taking street photographs
Be more aggressive
Get more involved (talk to people)
Stay with the subject matter (be patient)
Take simpler pictures
See if everything in background relates to subject matter
Vary compositions and angles more
Be more aware of composition
Don’t take boring pictures!
Get in closer (use 50mm lens or less)
Watch camera shake (shoot 250 sec or above)
Don’t shoot too much!!!
Not all eye level : try holding the camera at waist level
Decisive Moment-In 1952 Henri Cartier-Bresson, a founder of modern photojournalism, proposed one of the most fascinating and highly debated concepts in the history of photography: “the decisive moment.” This moment occurs when the visual and psychological elements of people in a real life scene spontaneously and briefly come together in perfect resonance to express the essence of that situation. Some people believe that the unique purpose of photography, as compared to other visual arts, is to capture this fleeting, quintessential, and holistic instant in the flow of life. For this reason, many photographers often mention the decisive moment, or similar ideas about capturing the essence of a transitory moment, when they describe their work.
