For all my final images I used the BW11 to make the photo black and white. I like this
I have decided to crop this image of a woman walking through the street with her baguette. I have ensured that she is in the centre of the image to make her the main focus. I stood outside the shop for a while waiting for the “Decisive Moment” and I eventually managed to find this woman with a baguette under her arm. I really like this image because it has a French background which links into Henry-Cartier Bresson because he was brought up in France. I also really like this picture in black and white because it really shows the contrast between the darkness in the shops and the bright white on the woman’s face which makes her stand out as she is the main focus.
These images were taken in the St Malo town, we took pictures of people walking through the
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a famous Humanist photographer who focused his work around capturing the reality of people’s everyday lives. He claims that his camera was an extension of the eye, and he brought his camera around with him everywhere.
Henri Cartier-Bresson was born in 1908 into a wealthy family in Chanteloup, Seine-et-Marne. At an early age, he was introduced to arts and was initially drawn to painting, particularly with Surrealism. As he grew older, he discovered photography and his fascination increased, he then began a lifelong passion for photography. Bresson felt as though a camera was a tool he could use to interact with the rest of the world. His theory was that photography can capture the meaning beneath outward appearance in instants of extraordinary clarity. In his early years, he decided to travel extensively from Europe to Africa with his camera by his side. Bresson states that photography is like hunting, except they don’t kill. “I adore shooting photographs,” he’d later note. “It’s like being a hunter. But some hunters are vegetarians—which is my relationship to photography.” These experiences widened his outlook on life, and he believes that ‘Photography isn’t just about images; it’s about capturing the essence of existence.’
Examples of his work:
The camera and the lens:
Henri Cartier-Bresson was known for using a camera called the Leica rangefinder that had a 50mm lens. Bresson loved the fact the camera had a 50mm lens as its similar to the human eye, ensuring he captured images that felt natural and immersive to viewers. He favoured this particular camera because it was compact, reliable and left him inconspicuous. This allowed him to use a quick style of photography, which is essential for street photography.
Another reason why he loved this camera was because it had a silent shutter, so it let him capture moments without drawing attention to himself. This silence allowed him to be stealthy with his photography.
A smaller aperture was used to allow a larger depth of field, and a fast shutter speed was used to capture a man in movement in sharp focus.
Behind the Gare St. Lazare:
Henri Cartier-Bresson is well known for his black and white photograph called Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare taken in Parisin 1932. This photo was taken at the Place de l’Europe, outside the Saint-Lazare train station, in Paris, with his portable Leica camera. It is one of his best known as it is spontaneous and is iconic because of the style that attempted to capture the decisive moment in photography.
Textures:
The choice of black & white for the photo was actually not a choice due to the technological limitations in the 1930s. By stripping away all of the colour, this lets us focus on the image’s content and not be distracted by the hues in the scene. Since there was no colour, the texture becomes more pronounced as well. A variety of different textures are included in this image, for example the water’s surface, the rough posters, the old buildings in the background and the grainy quality allows the viewer to feel connected to the location and feel as though they are there.
Lighting:
This image was taken during mid-day using natural light. Typically, photographers are wary of using midday sun for their photography due to its harshness and strong shadows it can cast. However, Cartier-Bresson turned these potential drawbacks into positives, and used the sharp shadows to add depth to the scene. The high contrast emphasises the texture throughout the image. The sun’s position was a huge factor to creating the vivid reflection seen in the puddle. Without the overhead light source, the reflection may have been less defined.
Here is my first edit in which I am making, for this edit I have decided to play around with the different levels of contrast, blacks, whites, the texture and other features within light room to give the image a more unique look rather than the original I Had taken.
edit 1 in colour and B&W
Edit 2
original photo
Again for this image I have decided to edit it by using all the different features and bringing the image more to life. To do this I have only played around with the contrast, exposure and the whites within the image.
For my Virtual Gallery I chose to place my photos in separate sections depending on what type of photo they are. I placed the photos I took in response to Zed Nelson in one corner of the gallery and framed them with a black frame with a white background. I placed a wall between my Zed Nelson images and my Landscape images. I also framed them with the same options as I did with the Zed Nelson photos. For my Mandy Barker image I placed it alone on one wall as I feel due to its bright colours it should have space around it in order to allow it to stand out.
Here are some of my favourite images taken in France – St Malo inspired by Henri Carton and the deceive moment.
Evaluation- I really like the way I got different angles and shapes within St Malo. I like how there is a mixture of many different people doing things. I got around 1000 photos for these area of photography which I really enjoyed. However I think I could’ve taken some clearer or different angled photos rather then just normal or up or down since it would mix it up a bit but other than that I really like and enjoyed taking this style of photography as it showed me how much work you need to do to achieve this style.
Here is my contact sheet for the images I took whilst during our day trip. Due to the amount I took it is to time consuming to grade them all, so to distinguish them I’ve flagged them as either white or black.
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French artist and humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment. Cartier-Bresson was one of the founding members of Magnum Photos
What is the concept of the decisive moment?
The concept of the decisive moment implies that in the constant flow of events, there are moments in which the arrangement of everything within the frame is perfect. These moments are always spontaneous, so a photographer must be ready to click right away.
– Line – Shape & Form – Pattern – Tone – Colour – Texture – Space
Cartier used many quotes to relate within his work and some of them are..
“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson “To photograph: it is to put on the same line of sight the head, the eye and the heart.” ― Henri Cartier-Bresson “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” ― Henri Cartier-Bresson “A photograph is neither taken or seized by force. It offers itself up. It is the photo that takes you. One must not take photos.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
He was a photographer in the 90s and used a Leica 35 mm rangefinder cameras, I will be analysing his photograph’s.
What is it and how can you achive this?
The decisive photo is the moment of perfect position and how you use angles, shapes , lines etc to form the way your photo is being taken. its a spilt second of moment and can be done perfect in a click of a button with the right lay out and how you are trying to style it. Henri was the master of photography, Henri started off with art and drawings first but then turned to photography. He was a member of magnum photo group which is where he took cannon photographs which means the absence of posing – the person must be unaware for the photo to be candied. The point of the decisive moment and candied photos is that you can really feel the intellectual pleasure and seeing and understating what you can se and how you can feel it as well as the backgrounds in the image. Candied photograph’s have relation between shape and geometry. If they don’t relate to these things then its classed as a bad photograph states the photographer.
Here are some examples of some photos I took in St Malo trying to recreate some of Henri’s art.
“The simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression.”
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), a French photographer who is considered to be one of the fathers of photojournalism and masters of candid photography. He sought to capture the ‘everyday’ in his photographs and took great interest in recording human activity.
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French artist and humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment.
Henri Cartier-Bresson pioneered photojournalism as an art form by traveling the world and capturing honest scenes of day-to-day life. Born in France in 1908, his passion for photography took him around the globe and saw him covering many of the 20th century’s major world events in stunning black and white.
He wrote,
“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. In order to ‘give a meaning’ to the world, one has to feel involved in what one frames through the viewfinder. This attitude requires concentration, discipline of mind, sensitivity, and a sense of geometry. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.”
Bresson stated in his documentary,
” photography is my version of physical pleasure, it is like hunting without the killing.”
“ Contemplating of how things just are”
This quote is very broad however expresses a very large opinion that can answer many factors. He is stating how impressive his work can be by photographing reality and every day scenes and scenarios. Conversely, this can be seen by a different angle due to the fact people naturally adjust their behaviours as it is human instinct to if they are aware of the photographer. Therefore, this genre of images are not completely realistic and accurate but can be differed to this opinion.
MOODBOARD OF HIS WORK
The Decisive Moment, Henri Cartier-Bresson’s influential publication, is widely considered to be one of the most important photobooks of the twentieth century. Pioneering for its emphasis on the photograph itself as a unique narrative form, The Decisive Moment was described by Robert Capa as “a Bible for photographers.” 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 exhibition details how the decisions made by the collaborators in this major project—including Cartier-Bresson, French art publisher Tériade, American publisher Simon & Schuster, and Henri Matisse, who designed the book’s cover—have shaped our understanding of Cartier-Bresson’s photographs.
Street Photography:the impulse to take candid pictures in the stream of everyday life. Street photography is a form of documentary but it is decidedly not reportage and rarely simply tells a story. Sometimes a street photographer captures something truly unusual – an extraordinary face, an accident, or a crime in the making. But more often a good street photograph is remarkable because it makes something very ordinary seem extraordinary.
These factors significantly influence street photography
SUBJECT MATTER/ CAPTURING A MOMENT> people and humanity, theatre of everyday life, poetics of streets, comic absurdities and humour, small acts of kindness, scenes of unexpected beauty, ordinary moments, visual pun and humour, gestures and poses, faces and crowds.
LOCATIONS & PLACES > inside the walls and on the ramparts, back alleys and sidewalks, beaches and coastal promenades, parks and public spaces, cafes and shops, street corners and intersections, signs and advertising, facades and architecture.
POINTS OF VIEW > low/ high/ canted angles, deadpan approach, light and shadows, intensity of colour, reflections in shop windows, shoot through glass, frame within a frame, focusing and un-focusing, up-close and details, shallow depth of field, artful and funny juxtapositions, geometry and space, lines and form, textures and patterns, signs and shop windows, advertising and graphics, reflections and mirrors.
APPROACH > capturing decisive moments, candid portraits, informal snapshots, inobtrusive observations (Cartier-Bresson style), interactive and confrontational (William Klein approach), spontaneous and subconscious reactions, poetic possibilities, inquisitive mind and roaming eye, looking and prying, shoot from the hip, serendipity and good luck.
CAMERA HANDLING >Lenses (focal length): use wide (18-35mm) to standard lenses (50mm). Focusing: automatic or manual – whatever you prefer. Exposure mode: S or T mode – (shutter-speed priority). Shutter-speeds: experiment with fast (1/125-1/500) and slow shutter-speeds (1/15-1/60). ISO: 100 (sunny weather), 200-400 (overcast ), 800-3200 ISO (inside or evening/ night). White Balance: auto
Camera settings
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.
Image Analysis – Using the rule of thirds
This image is specifically in Paris, there is not a specific ‘ moment ‘ however I would say the wheel barrow is the main subject as it is drawing a few other people in. This photo does not focus on one thing but rather focuses on a natural every day scene. This photo is interesting as the middle section has more light and lighter tones leading to shadows which outstand the 2 people in the centre, this helped me through the rule of thirds. This significantly contrasts to the top and bottom of the photograph as it is in the shade and has darker tones meaning there isn’t as much significant and vibrant shadows. Another factor that is important in Henry- Cartier Bresson’s work or even street photography itself is the environment around especially the geometry and lines. This split within shadows creates lines into thirds horizontally which effectively contrasts with the pattern of vertical lines and rectangles within the buildings and windows surrounding. The left foreground of the image I assume is stairs, so it creates a small amount of mystery of what is behind, when usually a viewer would not even give a thought what is behind. Lastly, another thing that caught my eye is that this photo is completely natural, because it is not focusing on one subject or person, he did not have to ask to change or adjust a pose. Therefore, these people in the image have remained there behaviours. Which means that this photo is not contradictory and is ‘ The Decisive moment’ as he probably waited for the right time to take this photograph and succeeded.
Henri Cartier-Bresson, born August 22, 1908 Chanteloup, France, and died August 3, 2004, Céreste, was a French photographer whose humane, spontaneous photographs helped establish photojournalism as an art form.
His photographs impart spontaneous instances with meaning, mystery, and humour 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
Henri Cartier-Bresson is rightfully recognized as a master of the craft. He was one of the first true street photographers and artfully captured everyday life through the lens. But he also coined a term:
The “Decisive Moment”.
With it he described the exact instance when a unique event is captured by the photographer. When something that may never happen again is frozen in the frame. He said it best himself, in an iconic quote:
“To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression.”
Beyond “The Decisive Moment”, the title of his 1952 landmark monograph and philosophical theory on photographing as the artless art, Cartier-Bresson was a zealous geometrician and strictly adhered to only composing within the camera and never in the darkroom. His passion for visual harmony, humanity and the impermanence of reality focused by a classically trained eye allowed for the creation of an unrivalled body of historic imagery.
How did Henri Cartier become famous?
He was drafted into the film and photo unit of the French army in 1940 and was taken prisoner by the Germans that same year. After three years of imprisonment he escaped and began working for the French underground. In 1943 he made series of portraits of artists, including Matisse, Bonnard, and Braque. Through 1944 and 1945, Cartier-Bresson photographed the occupation of France and its liberation. In 1947 he co-founded the Magnum agency with David Seymour, and George Rodger. He spent the next twenty years traveling around the world, then received the Overseas Press Club Award four times; the ‘American Society of Magazine Photographers award’ in 1953; and the ‘Prix de la Société Française de Photographie’ in 1959
A few Iconic Artworks By Henri Cartier Bresson
Rue Mouffetard, Paris
Seville, Spain
Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare
What did Henri Cartier-Bresson discover?
In 1931, Cartier-Bresson discovered the hand-held Leica camera and was practically consumed by the new art form.
He was known for using only one camera, a Leica rangefinder, and one lens, a 50mm, for almost all of his life’s work. The Leica continued to be the go to device for photographers after World War II, especially for New York City photographers such as Roy De Carava, Lisette Model, William Klein, and Helen Levitt. Robert Frank, who is best known for his book The Americans (1959) and was the leading influence on street photographers of the succeeding generation, documented culture throughout the United States and in Europe.
