For this photoshoot, I focussed on street photography while exploring St. Malo. I took photographs of buildings, beaches, people and more. I tried to focus on on the people around the town, capturing there lives and what was happening in the moment.

I was inspired by Henri Cartier Bresson and his work on the decisive moment. A lot of my photos are taken in a similar way to him and the outcome is also similar. I found while taking the photos that it was a really good way to capture a beautiful image as the majority of the time, people aren’t interacting with the camera and the photos aren’t staged, they are the raw moments of someone’s life. When Henri Cartier Bresson said his photography was ‘like hunting but without the killing’, I found this to be very accurate.

In my photoshoot, other than than photographs of people, I was able to take good images of buildings. These buildings included structures from a long time ago, showing the history of the town whether it was a big building block or a small old café. I think those images turned out well as it showed the beauty of the town while still having more modern structure as well. As it had both, I was able to take images that show the comparison of buildings.

I also captured landscapes of the beach which made for some really good photos. In these images, I was able to show the sand, sea, sea walls and sea structures further out in the ocean. I think it was a really good location as there was different photograph opportunities of just one beach.

The Decisive Moment is the moment where the composition (shapes and lighting) meet with movement and people. Henri Cartier-Bresson published a photobook in 1952. This book was a collection of his work showing random, spontaneous moments which he called ‘the decisive moment’. These images were constructed by first setting up the frames and then wait for the perfect moment to capture.

Henri Cartier-Bresson views the activity of photography as an ‘extension of the eye’. He would carry his camera to capture uniquely mundane moments as he saw them in the moment. This spontaneity allowed him to capture a period in a sort of time capsule. He would try and take photographs without being noticed to capture a ‘true’ moment. When someone is aware of a camera they act out or at least different which can lead to a ‘fake’ moment. Alternately he would frame up an image and wait for something interesting to happen within the frame.

He was a French artist and photographer well known as a pioneer of street photography. He started with a simple Brownie he’d received as a gift and quickly found his passion for the art. After a year he purchased his first camera which was a simple film camera of the time.

This image shows a man and a cat sat in a rat run. It is black and white with high contrast between the darkest and lightest parts. I believe it is portrait for 2 reasons: the first to show how small the man is. The height makes the walls look much taller and tower over the small hunched man. This could be to show how low and small he feels. The second reason is that it is still sort of a portrait of a man and would make sense to be shot in portrait. I think this image projects a sense of sadness onto the man which otherwise wouldn’t be present. Additionally the frame is completely excluded otherwise to show a sense of loneliness which makes the cat such an important part of the image.

In this image the decisive moment is the reaction between the cat and the man. The man is sat and seemingly observing the cat who is observing the man back. This is the decisive moment because not only would the cat be unexpected but it adds an additional layer to the private moment the man seems to be having. Had these two not been in the frame, the image would simply be a bland alley as its the two figures that add meaning and emotion to the image.

The image is framed with the large building walls. These are dark and draw the eye into the centre both through the lines and light. The brightest part is what draws the eye which is in the centre. This is broken up however by the small cat and the man.

Examples Of Picture Stories:

What Is A Picture Story?

Photo stories are a means of visual storytelling. Photojournalists use photo stories to narrate a series of images so that they give better insight into an event or topic. These stories range from photos of an event that describe what happened, to long term or long-form stories following things like wars and elections.

Types Of Photos Typically Used In Photo Stories

• Establishing shot
• Person at work
• Relationship shot
• Detail shot
• Environmental Portrait
• Formal Portrait
• Observed portrait

These images are typically used in picture stories, this is because they help display the whole story with enough detail and show a selection of emotive intentions and contextual situations.

Establishing Shot

An establishing shot in photography is a wide or extreme wide shot that sets up the context of a scene and shows the location where the action/events occur. It can include buildings, landscapes, or other obvious signals of place and time. Establishing shots help convince the viewer of the images background and validity.

Person At Work

A person at work shot is helpful when establishing a person.
This is an image of an individual at their job/occupation
It demonstrates them in their everyday ordinary life allowing the viewer to relate to the individual.

a person at work shot must include a
+Who – the image should show who is working
+What – it should be clear in the image what the individual is doing
+How – the viewer should be able to infer how the individual is completing their job/task
+Context – the contextual clues should allude too the individuals occupation

Relationship Shot

there are relationships of many kinds, familiar, platonic, romantic and the relationship between and individual and there pet, these shots can even illustrate the relationship between strangers or mild acquaintance’s

Detail Shot

A detail shot is a close-up photograph or artwork that focuses on a specific part or element of the subject, highlighting its intricate details and textures.

Environmental portrait

An environmental portrait is a type of portrait photography that:

• Includes more than just the subject, capturing them within a broader context.
• Is executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as their home or workplace.
• Showcases the subject’s personality and connection to their surroundings.
• Combines a meaningful setting with basic portrait photography skills

Formal Portrait

Photographers who take traditional portraits aim to capture the essence of the person they are shooting. That’s most iconic figures in popular culture, politics, and history have traditional portraits taken of them. 
formal portraits tend to focus entirely on a persons face in a posed position with a controlled environment and specified lighting.

Observed Portraits

observed portraits are candid images aiming to capture the individual with out their knowing.

Image Analysis And Deconstruction