Henri Cartier Bresson was a French artist and photographer. He is best known for his candid photographs and street photos. He viewed taking photographs as an extension of the eye and and thought of it “like hunting but without the killing”. The main ideology of his work became known as the decisive moment. He would capture moments in real-time happening without his control. He didn’t stage his images as he wanted to photograph the reality of the world and capture something just as it is. He aspired to connect everyone rather than carry on with the divide, he thought they should be bridged together.

He grew up in France with a wealthy family. He was introduced to arts from an early age and was first was interested in painting until he discovered photography. Then his passion was photography as he saw it as an extension of drawing and extension of the eye as he could capture exactly what he was seeing. Photography inspired him to travel so he went to places around Europe and Africa to dive into other culture. This then inspired his view of life which became ‘ photography isn’t just about images; it’s about capturing the essence of existence’. This helped him to form his philosophy of the ‘decisive moment’.

Bresson used and favoured the Leica rangefinder camera. This is because it was reliable and it was designed in a way that it was more discreet than the usually large cameras in that time. Because of this, he was able to use a faster shooting style which wasn’t obvious and drew attention to him. This camera also had a quiet shutter noise which allowed him to take photographs of moments without being exposed. He would use the 50mm lens as it offers a field view close to the human eye, allowing him to capture the natural moments he was seeing in front of him.