Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), arguably the most significant photographer of the twentieth-century, was one of the co-founders of Magnum Photos in 1947 and champion of the “decisive moment”. He brought a new aesthetic and practice to photography, initiated modern photojournalism, and influenced countless followers. Henri Cartier-Bresson has intuitively chronicled decisive moments of human life around the world with poetic documentary style. His photographs impart spontaneous instances with meaning, mystery, and humor in terms of precise visual organization, and his work, although tremendously difficult to imitate, has influenced many other photographers. His photographs may be summed up through a phrase of his own: “the decisive moment,” the magical instant when the world falls into apparent order and meaning, and may be apprehended by a gifted photographer.

The decisive moment: widely considered to be one of the most important photo books of the twentieth century. Pioneering for its emphasis on the photograph itself as a unique narrative form. Originally titled Images à la Sauvette (“images on the run”) in the French, the book was published in English with a new title, The Decisive Moment, which unintentionally imposed the motto which would define Cartier-Bresson’s work. The decisive moment refers to capturing an event that is ephemeral and spontaneous, where the image represents the essence of the event itself.

Key Images

This image has been taken outside in natural lighting. This image is very bright with contrasting tones of dark grays and blacks. The focal point of this image is the children in the foreground of this image. This image was taken at the Berlin wall in 1962. The children appear to be playing in the streets. This image is a whole contrast in itself as the Berlin wall was seen as a bad thing as it separated the east and west of Berlin (from 1961-1989) leaving people from each side unable to see family members and stopped people from being able to work . However the children are playing next to it which is seen as a happy positive thing.

Magnum Photography

Through 1944 and 1945, Cartier-Bresson photographed the occupation of France and its liberation. In 1947 he co-founded the Magnum agency with Robert Capa, Chim (David Seymour), and George Rodger and he spent the next twenty years traveling around the world. Magnum is one of the first photographic cooperatives, owned and administered entirely by members. The staff serve a support role for the photographers, who retain all copyrights to their own work. In 1966 he left Magnum, which remained his agent, and devoted himself to drawing.

Compare and Contrast

Henri Cartier-Bresson and William Klein

Both Cartier-Bresson and William Klein’s images are solely in black and white. The above image (William Klein’s) is very dark toned with lots of blacks and grays and the below image is more bright and white toned even though both images look to have been taken outside in natural lighting. The subjects of both images also appear to know in someway that they are being photographed, whether they were told or spotted the camera themselves they are both engaging and interacting with the camera. The above image has the focal point of the two children as they are extremely close to the camera leaving very little background space. However in the image below the foreground is of the children but they are very low in the frame leaving a lot of background of the wall behind them.

Henri Cartier-Bresson and Alex Webb

Both of these images have been taken in natural lighting of people who are unaware they are being photographed. The above image (Cartier-Bresson’s) is very dull and grey toned whereas the below image is full of various colours. Both images have been taken in the streets however in the first image the frame is full of people who look like they are at some form of event and in the second image the frame only has 3 people in it. Two of those people are in the foreground of the image and are slightly out of focus whereas the man in the background is fully in focus like the rest of the image. In Cartier Bresson’s image this contrasts the below image as the foreground of the people is in focus and the background of the buildings are slightly blurred.

With my final images that I found were most effective I open each image in photoshop and copied them on to an empty gallery room where I distorted the images to get them to fit on the walls and aligning them to the ground. Edit > transform > distort. I then put a light drop shadow behind each photo to give them the affect that they’re on the wall.

The word PORTRAIT is defined as a painting, drawing, photograph, or engraving of a person, of the face or head and shoulders. A portrait is designed to capture someone in there own self such as there personality , lifestyle , glamour ect. In modern day this is can be done by using high tech lighting equipment , backdrops, poses by the models themselves and of course Photoshop where editing skills can change a photo. The first portrait ever to be taken was in 1839 were an American photographer , Robert Cornelius , took the first ever portrait photograph of a person. He removed the lens cap, ran into the frame and stood still for ten minutes, before returning the cap to its position.

Contemporary Portrait Photography – is a photograph from our own time, compared to an image from a much earlier period. It can be described as an image that shows and reflects are values and challenges to this day.

Environmental Portraits

Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark was an American photographer known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture, and advertising photography. She photographed people who were away from mainstream society and toward their own personality and what they do from day to day life. Whether that be a working environment or a hobbies , she loved to take photographs of people who supposedly look like they are happy.

In the 1960’s , Mary decided to take on photography as a side carer as the passion for it grew. These images above in black and white are effective as for they bring out the mood and personality of the model . A good example would be the image below…

This iconic image gives off an uncomfortable feeling as the girl to the right seems to be in a calm and resting state whilst the hippo next to her reaches out with its great big mouth , bigger than her , and in a sense showing some aggression towards her. The mouth seems as it could swallow her whole , but to prevent this she defends herself with only a stick. With her short shorts, boots and gloves , standing outside what it seems to be a tent , this looks as she and the hippo are part of a circus. The girl seems confident in herself as she stands proud with a brave face and a relaxed standing posture. This links to environmental portraits as she’s in her element , she’s doing what seems to please her and make her happy.

Photoshoot Plan

Who – I will be taking photos of family members and public people in their work environment.

How – Using a DLSR camera with a 500mm lens. Photographs will be taken with a natural white balance for the biggest range while editing.

Where – The market in town, small businesses, the hospital ect.

When – The day time to capture natural lighting , but this doesn’t really matter to what I am going to be photographing as they are going to be taken inside.

What – People in their work environment – environmental portraits.

Contact Sheet

My Best Selection Of Images

These images above I cropped and edited on photoshop to bring out the best quality of them. In photoshop i simply heightened the contrast and lowered the brightness level a tad just to make the image more intriguing to look at.

These images give a range of different types of jobs and carers which make people happy in their working environment.

I feel like these photographs link to Mary Ellen Mark’s images as the majority of the people are looking straight at the camera with a relaxed mood to them. I chose an image to represent Mary’s work more and changed it into black and white to see the similar style between the two…

These two images have similarities as both men have a relaxing , no posture facial expression. This implies that their mood/personality has a slight importance to their job. Both of their body postures seem to be relaxed and confident in themselves. This can be seen as the butcher boy has his hands resting on the sides of the table which can suggest that he is proud of his job. On the other hand the actor sitting in the dressing room seems to have a more chill vibe as for his legs crossed over themselves.

Both photographs capture these men in their working environment which links to the fact that they are environmental portraits.

‘Henri Cartier–Bresson (1908-2004), arguably the most significant photographer of the twentieth-century, was one of the co-founders of Magnum Photos in 1947 and champion of the “decisive moment”. He brought a new aesthetic and practice to photography, initiated modern photojournalism, and influenced countless followers.’

Henri Cartier-Bresson is well known for his street photography, here are some of his most significant images:

Analysis

This image was shot in natural light on a sunny day, which created strong defined shadows on the dround. This creates a large tonal range from the light whites of the highlights to the darkest blacks of the shadows. This high contrast makes the subjects and image as a while pop out. The image is also perfectly exposed with no sun glare or over whitening of surfaces. The aperture of the photo seems to be around the f.11 mark, a medium to high aperture to let most things in frame be in focus and sharp. There is a slight vignette around the edges of the image to create a more moody feel and to draw attention to the centre of the image. The shutter speed was probably above 1/120 as the subjects were moving at the time the photo was taken and the sunlight was bright. There also seems to be a slight grainy texture to the image indicating a higher iso.

The light coming from behind the people give a silhouette effect. This along with the dark shadows being cast on the brightly lit road creates an ominous and almost uneasy, moody feeling. As the people get further away from the camera and further down the road, their silhouette becomes less distinguishable from the background, creating a greater sense of depth in the image.

The peoples faces are not clearly seen. This might symbolise how each person in the image, weather they know each other or are strangers, is living their own personal life (sonder). Them being unaware of the photograph shows the natural way of living and people getting on with their daily tasks.

MAGNUM photo agency

In early 1947, Cartier-Bresson, with Robert Capa, David Seymour, William Vandivert and George Rodger founded Magnum Photos. Magnum was a cooperative picture agency and aimed to use photography in the service of humanity, and provided arresting, widely viewed images.

William Klein – comparrison

William Klein took many street photography, and ill compare the above image with Henri Cartier-Bresson’s images

Similarly to Bresson, the image has a large black and white tonal range, with no over exposure or under exposed parts of the image.

Contrasting to Bressons image, this was shot with a lower aperture, maybe about f.5. This is because the Gun that is being pointed at the camera in the foreground is blurry and out of focus, but the subjects behind it are in focus and well detailed. There is also not a vignette in this image.

There seems to be a high iso, similarly to Bressons image, because of the grainy texture.

Contrasting completely to Bressons image, there is immediately a lot of emotion and meaning in this photo. The use of a gun symbolises danger and destruction. Along with the boys emotion with shows anger and sadness. This contrasts to the unidentifiable, shadow filled faces of the subjects in Bressons image. Also, in the image the subjects are aware of the camera.

‘Street photography, also sometimes called candid photography, is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places.’

I like street photography because of the natural, non staged flow of the images. It captures a second in time where everyone in the image is focused on their own thing and has not acknowledged the camera, making the image feel almost like a window into another persons life.

i particularly like this video by Pierre T Lambert, who is a photographer and videographer ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR329XWJzo8&ab_channel=PierreT.Lambert ) because he uses the rain and bad weather to his advantage to create moody and more impactful street photography images.

Here is one of the many images that he took while out in the rain.

The dark tones and reflections on the wet ground create a moody feel which i really like.

Bruce Gilden

Bruce Gilden’s street photography is in black and white which draws attention away from colour and more to the actual contents and meaning of the image. This photographs tend to have a lot of emotion in them and are usually quite busy with many people. Here are some examples:

Paul Strand tried to communicate the sentiment of the land and its occupants straightforwardly, truly, and with deference. His prints are excellent in detail and resonance, and his methodology has affected American photography incredibly. Strand supported “straight photography,” and shot road representations to city scenes, machine structures, and plants with his particular clearness, accuracy, and mathematical structure. From 1904-09, he studied photography under Lewis Hine at the Ethical Culture School in New York, where he was born. Hine acquainted Strand with Alfred Stieglitz, who supported him and gave him a presentation in 1915, and distributed his work in the two last issues of Camera Work. Dynamic as both a still picture taker and a producer, Strand has been incredibly compelling. 

Strand teamed up with Charles Sheeler in 1921 on the short film Mannahatta, and from 1923 to 1929, he functioned as an independent cinematographer. He filled in as head of photography and cinematography for the Mexican government’s Department of Fine Arts from 1932 until 1934; he administered creation of the government supported documentary The Wave. In 1935 he went overseas with directors of the Group Theater to Moscow, where he met movie chief Sergei Eisenstein. Upon his return, he dealt with Pare Lorentz’s film The Plow That Broke the Plains for the Resettlement Administration. Strand got comfortable in Orgeval, France, in 1951; there his thoughtfulness regarding “the world at his doorstep” moved to the basic excellence of his nursery. He distributed a progression of books on his movements around the globe. 

My interpretation