Background –

Henri Cartier Bresson was a humanist photographer, who lived from 1908 – 2004 in France with a loving wealthy family. He always had a passion for the arts since being introduced from a young age and began with drawing and painting as a child. When he was introduced to photography he began taking his camera everywhere with him almost like an extra limb as it helped him interact with the world. Photography inspired him to travel the world to explore the cultures of other countries and ended up travelling Africa and Europe. He believed that photography was not just about photos but the essence of existence throughout the world.

Cartier – Bresson photographed candid society with a blind understanding that ordinary people have ordinary lives wanting to capture that through photos. His camera was like an extension of his eye and he used the analogy of ‘its like hunting but we don’t kill’ to explain the idea that this was his physical pleasure. This analogy shows that through the idea of hunting he was patient and precise with everything that led up to his photos due to the technology not being advanced, and the specific moments needed. Bresson was also present at a lot of historical events through his lifetime and also wanted to capture the realism and naturalistic aspect that these events may have.

The reason for the philosophy behind his photo ‘ Gare Saint-Lazare’ was the idea that ” there is never not a decisive moment “. Therefore any moment could be a photo, and he made this shown with every piece of work he produced.

The photo of ‘Gare Saint- Lazare’ was taken in Paris in the 1930’s at the station of St Lazare. In this photo shapes and shadows are extremely important to show all kinds of composition.

leading lines usually start off the frame and usually guides the eye to follow the main focus which in this case is the Jumping man. The leading lines in this photo is the fence and the reflection which give a set of parallel lines that help follow this jumping man.

For photos like this, there needs to be a lot of balance in the photo to almost level it out and the was that this was done in this particular photo was the view of the large clock tower in the background which balances with the reflection of the jumping man in the water. This shows almost a feel of Ying and Yang as the difference of the reality of the clock tower and the intriguing thought of the reflection being almost an alternate place clash so well together.

There is a lot of negative space in this photo too, like the white sky space above the landscape and the empty ground space seen underneath the reflection of the jumping man. This helps the main focus of the photo ( the jumping man ) to stay in focus all throughout.

The symbolism of the man jumping in the photo is also a really nice touch to this photo because again it almost feels like an alternative world through something like a looking glass foreshadowing the photo within itself almost giving a unnatural feeling throughout.

His use of rule of thirds is very effective as the use of having the main focus of the man being in the middle right third almost helps the eyes of viewers follow through his moment in the photo, almost helping us imagine the movement that would be happening.

Examples of his work –

As you can see, all his photos show the natural world without filter and the candid society that people live in. The photos have been taken at almost the perfect time showing the naturality of everyone in shot and I think that that that is a very powerful idea.

The camera and lens –

Henri Cartier – Bresson was known for using a Leica rangefinder with a 50mm lens. These cameras were compact, reliable and their design was quite small and discreet, making it very inconspicuous. This allowed him to use a quick and unobtrusive shooting style, which is essential for street photography.

He loved how stealthy the camera was, the shutter was quiet, making capturing moments easy to do without attracting attention to himself and therefor allowing moments to unfold naturally before him. This silent lens was crucial for someone who believed in capturing authentic unstaged moments.

He preferred the 50mm lens because it offers a field of view close to the human eye, ensuring he captured images that felt natural and immersive to the viewer.