Henri Cartier-Bresson, born 22nd august 1908 in Chanteloup-en-Brie, France, was and still is considered the master of candid photography and a humanist. Cartier-Bresson is well know for his theory of the decisive moment. Coming from a wealthy family, he was introduce to art from a young age and had an affinity for painting, however, photography soon took over that love and adoration. When he was younger he travelled around Europe and Africa, with his camera, learning about different lives and cultures. this helped him shape and mould his philosophy “the decisive moment”.

The decisive moment

The camera

Henri Cartier-Bresson was know for using the Leica Rangefinder with a 50mm lens. Cartier-Bresson preferred this camera to any other camera as it was small and inconspicuous, this allowed him to create beautiful photos without disrupting the people he was photographing them. The quite shutter sped also helped with the discreetness of his photos. The camera itself was small and easy to work with and there for no disruptive to the people in the photos. The lens was favoured as it create images that were closest to the eye.

How does Henri Cartier-Bresson view the activity of photography?

• Cartier-Bresson describes the activity of photography as “physical pleasure” and states that it is almost “like hunting” without actually “killing”
• The lens is described as an extenuation of the eye.
• He describes it about being “here and now” and about being in the moment.
• It is about freezing a moment of time in place.

The Gare Saint-Lazare

The leading lines follow the top of the fence and the reflection of the top of the fence. This helps to bring the onlookers eye to the leaping man. This also brings attention to the man in the centre of the photo, which might not have been noticed otherwise.

The balance and the symmetry of the clock tower and the reflection of the man show the how the reflection and the tower are one in the same.

The rule of thirds places the leaping man in the centre right quadrant of the photo this frames him in place. This eases the eye on to him. if this were not the case and he were in the left of the photo, the man would be at the start of his jump. This would change the photo, in this instance we would be able to see where the man would be going to, the ripples in the water would disappear.

The negative space at the to and bottom of the photo helps to cement the idea that this is a frame of time that has been frozen, forever to remain a fragment of a life time before ours.

Black and white holds a soul that is missed in coloured images. this was not an editing choice to put the photo in black and white. the lack of colour allows for the eye to focus on more detailed and deeper elements of the photo. the earthy texture and the poster on the wall helps the viewer to appreciate the environment and feel as though they are there.

It is very likely that Cartier-Bresson used a smaller aperture to create a bigger depth of field and have everything in focus. He would also have used a faster shutter speed, this can be see where the leaping man is fuzzy however he is non in a major motion blur.

The natural midday sun, normally a pain for other photographers, is one of Cartier-Bresson greatest strengths. The high, bright sun created high a contrast and highlighted the mans reflection and despite being blurry is one of the clearest and vivid visuals of this photo.

How does Henri Cartier-Bresson view the activity of photography?

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer, known for being considered a master of candid photography through his main component to his photos called ‘the decisive moment’, and for being a pioneer to street photography.

Growing up in a wealthy family in France, Henri was introduced to arts early, yet his inspiration sparked when he discovered photography. He travelled significantly with a camera at a young age, viewing the camera lens as an extension of the eye which allows us to see more of the detail of the world. Through this exploration of communities and cultures, Henri discovered that photography is foremost about capturing the essence of existence, rather than just taking photos.

Henri preferred the 50mm lens as it offered a field of view similar to what his eye saw, ensuring he captured images that felt immersive and natural to the viewer.

harvest of intentions

‘Decisive moment’ theory – aesthetics

Photography is like God – people go everywhere and take photos

Hunting without killing, describes it as pleasure

using camera as the extension of the eye, allows us to see more detail of the world

can manipulate truth

joins humanity, whilst other photographers look for horror (conflicts, war)

Bresson likened what he did to ‘hunting’

when taking photos, waiting and lurking can feel like hunting

What is AI?

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities. On its own or combined with other technologies, AI can perform tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence or intervention. As the hype around AI has accelerated, vendors have been scrambling to promote how their products and services use it. Often, what they refer to as AI is simply a component of the technology, such as machine learning. AI requires a foundation of specialized hardware and software for writing and training machine learning algorithms.  general, AI systems work by ingesting large amounts of labeled training data, analyzing the data for correlations and patterns, and using these patterns to make predictions about future states. In this way, a chatbot that is fed examples of text can learn to generate lifelike exchanges with people, or an image recognition tool can learn to identify and describe objects in images by reviewing millions of examples. New, rapidly improving generative AI techniques can create realistic text, images, music and other media.

AI programming focuses on cognitive skills that include the following:

• Learning. This aspect of AI programming focuses on acquiring data and creating rules for how to turn it into actionable information.
• Reasoning. This aspect of AI programming focuses on choosing the right algorithm to reach a desired outcome.
• Self-correction. This aspect of AI programming is designed to continually fine-tune algorithms and ensure they provide the most accurate results possible.
• Creativity. This aspect of AIuses neural networks, rules-based systems, statistical methods and other AI techniques to generate new images, new text, new music and new ideas.

AI is important for its potential to change how we live, work and play. It has been effectively used in business to automate tasks done by humans, including customer service work, lead generation, fraud detection and quality control. In a number of areas, AI can perform tasks much better than humans. Particularly when it comes to repetitive, detail-oriented tasks. AI tools often complete jobs quickly and with relatively few errors. Because of the massive data sets it can process, AI can also give enterprises insights into their operations they might not have been aware of. The rapidly expanding population of generative AI tools will be important in fields ranging from education and marketing, to product design.

Advantages of AI:

• Good at detail-oriented jobs. AI has proven to be just as good, if not better than doctors at diagnosing certain cancers.
• Reduced time for data-heavy tasks. AI is widely used in data-heavy industries, including banking and securities, pharma and insurance, to reduce the time it takes to analyse big data sets.
• Saves labour and increases productivity. An example here is the use of warehouse automation, which grew during the pandemic and is expected to increase with the integration of AI and machine learning.
• Delivers consistent results. The best AI translation tools deliver high levels of consistency, offering even small businesses the ability to reach customers in their native language.
• Can improve customer satisfaction through personalization. AI can personalize content, messaging, ads, recommendations and websites to individual customers.
• AI-powered virtual agents are always available. AI programs do not need to sleep or take breaks, providing 24/7 service.

Disadvantages of AI:

• Expensive.
• Requires deep technical expertise.
• Limited supply of qualified workers to build AI tools.
• Reflects the biases of its training data, at scale.
• Lack of ability to generalize from one task to another.
• Eliminates human jobs, increasing unemployment rates.

My experimentation with AI:

Past:

I chose these objects to add into my experimentation of the past because they provided the first means of fast travel. This sped up migration, trade, and communication between cultures. I also added a black and white filter as it is known to make people feel nostalgic.

Present:

My reasoning for adding a man on his phone is because today’s society has brought technology into every aspect of our life, and has changed the way we behave and operate. In the background I placed another two people with shopping bags to add to the modernized affect.

Future:

For the future I added robots because in the last 10 years we have seen a significant increase in advanced technology, with many businesses beginning to replace humans with robots.

My virtual Gallery:

Step 1: Adding my past image

Step 2: Adding my present image

Step 3: Adding my future image and a drop shadow to each frame to give a 3D effect, which adds a sense of realism.

To display my final images, I laid them in a virtual gallery in chronological order so it is easy to interpret the differences between them.

The running man is the main focus, as if the shot was framed where the man would be on the left, there wouldn’t be any ripples, reflection of the buildings on the puddle, fallen ladder and the other objects. It would be very plain with a lot of negative space. The chimney on top of the building is also perfectly diagonal to the man’s reflection. Another use of equal spacing and no negative space.

About taking the Photo.
He used a small aperture to capture the in-focus from the for-ground to the background. Used a fast shutter speed to capture the jumping man, even though he is a little out of focus and blurry, for taking it back in 1930, that is amazing and he is basically in focus. The photo relies on natural light, and the shadows suggest that it was taken during midday when the sun was glaring and high in the sky. The natural light adds an authentic, unmediated quality to the image, free from shadows an fake lighting.

The photo being in black and white was not by choice, in 1930s you could only take photos in black and white and so he was limited to that but the photo looked better in black and white than colour anyway, so in a way it helped Bresson. Without colour, it makes the viewers focus more on the subject and what’s happening in the photo and makes the texture become more pronounced. You can feel the environment from the surroundings for example, worn-out posters on the walls, waters surface and the grainy quality of the wet ground. Typically, photographers don’t like taking photos during midday sun due to the amount of glare, harshness and the strong shadows it can create. However, Cartier-Bresson embraced this photo with the sharp shadows to create geometric shapes and add depth. The sun’s angle and position created the vivid reflection’s in the puddle of the buildings, man and other objects.

Introduction:  Henry was a French artist and humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film but preferred the 50mm lens.

He was known for humane, spontaneous photographs helped establish photojournalism as an art form.

His background: He was born into a wealthy family in France, and was introduced from an early age into arts. He started off with painting, but quickly realised he has a passion for photography which he saw as an add-on from painting with an extension of his eye.

Henri realised he could interact with the world using this tool/camera and travelled frequently from Europe to Africa to see and take in each different culture.

“Photography isn’t just about images; it’s about capturing the essence of existence.”

‘The Decisive Moment’
This means a visually pleasing image is combined with deeper meaning by capturing the very essence of what was happening when the shutter is pressed.

Henri Cartier Bresson was known for using a Leica rangefinder with a 50mm lens because:
These cameras were compact, reliable and their design was very discrete and more hidden to the naked eye than other cameras of the era. This allowed him to take quick snapshots with using an unobtrusive shooting style which is ideal for street photography.

Another main reason he used the Leica rangefinder was because of it’s stealth, quiet shutter which allowed sneaky photos to be taken without drawing attention, allowing life to unfold naturally through his lens. This silent tactic was crucial for someone who believed in capturing natural, realistic, authentic, unstaged moments. It also allows a new field of view to his photos.

One of the standout features is the use of leading lines/rule of thirds.

The railings are in line with the top line for the rule of thirds, both physical and shadowed, act as arrows, pointing directly at the main subject. Even the subtle lines in the water and the contours of the puddle help direct the viewer’s gaze towards the man. Also, the use of negative space with nothing going on in the top third of the photo and not really the bottom left area, helps direct our eyes towards the subject in the middle and where all the action and focus is.

Balance – The reflection from the man onto the puddle creates an almost yin-yang feel where the reality and its reflection coexist and perfectly are in opposite which creates a better look and a more natural look for the photo.

Why is a camera an extension of the eye?

Henri Cartier Bresson was one of the greatest street photographers of all time, viewing the camera as an extension of the eye, capturing things in the decisive moment. This approach connects humanity and is like as an extension of the eye, hunting for the perfect photo. He captures from various angles, which creates the perfect candid photo which doesn’t alter reality.

Bresson grew up in a wealthy part of France, so was introduced to the art at an early age. What initially caught his eye was paintings, which then inspired him to look at photography, as he found this was an extension of drawing and an extension of the eye.

He began to explore using a camera which he thought was a unique way of interacting with the world. Shortly after he became well know for using a specific type of camera called Leica 35 mm rangefinder camera, that was fitted with a normal 50m lens or occasionally a wide angle lens for capturing landscapes, often fitting black tape around the cameras which would make it less conspicuous. Using black and white film and sharp lenses, he was able to capture events un noticed.

Bresson composted his photos in the view finder, rather than using a darkroom, which was used to develop photos controlling the light carefully, stopping the pictures from becoming over exposed in this process. This was the reason he used a 35mm film, which didn’t make specific adjustments to the photo, instead giving spontaneity to the image emphasising the decisive moment in the image.

Bresson specifically used a Leica 35 mm rangefinder camera which was smaller and quieter, allowing him to subtly capture the decisive moment which allowed him to use a quick and unobtrusive style of shooting. This important style allowed him have a quick and effective way of capturing the decisive moment, without being too obvious.

When shooting his photos, he captured people as they were relying on his eye to capture the perfect moment, while staying virtually unseen and in the background enabling him to capture the right candid photo . This became effective, as shooting from the background using a smaller lensed camera meant he was unnoticeable.

What is the physical pleasure in making photographs?

Capturing the perfect composition of the decisive moment was very important. Henri Cartier Bresson viewed his work as a ‘sensual pleasure’ to see shapes and geometry, as these elements were arranged along with human subjects. When taking his photos, he looked for specific details other than the subject in the perfect moment, such as lines, triangles, squares, shadows, curves and shapes.

Bresson stood by the rule of “Get it right in camera!” meaning he never cropped his photos, as he preferred to actually get close enough and at the perfect angle when shooting his photos.

How can photography be liken to hunting?

Bresson described his style of photo shooting as ‘hunting’. This meant that he carefully and precisely looked for the right moment to take his photos.

I like this image as the whole lower section is waste, with an ironic text on the vehicles container saying ‘waste disposal’. This is further amplified by the only colour in the image being this text. However, some parts of the photo is lacking like how most of the image is in a mid grey tone, especially the sky, giving this image a blander look. This photo had some similarities to Edward Burtynsky photos with the presentation of large waste areas.

This image is good in the use of motion blur as it draws the eyes to the main focus point of the image (the large industrial pipes), making it seem more important and more destructive to the natural environment around it. the organic background paired with the subject creates a contrast between the pipes and the landscape. I think the editing could be improved on as the edges from the foreground to the background looks odd.

I think this image is a good representation photos from the likes of Edward Burtynsky. This is because the image is packed with detail and is very vibrant. The image does lack in some ways as the subject (the bus) doesn’t stand out as much from all the details elsewhere in the image.

Virtual galary:

Naomi White is an feminist, artist, and educator and focuses on creating a message and addresses issues about political, gender and environmental matters. This photography component of her work explores the way plastic responds to touch. In extension to this, Nicki explored it weight, its surface and how every bag reacts and contracts differently.

I would like to replicate some of these images in the studio for an Anthropocene and Naomi White inspired photoshoot, I think these photos are very moving and display how plastics float in the sea, I also really like the blank background and how it contrasts and brings out the bright colours of the plastic bags. I think these photos may also be misconceived, this is because the object looks similar to a flower or something of beauty, whereas in real life the object is pollutive, dangerous and a killer. This factor gives these photos an edge and explores the beauty in something negative.

I think these photos are similar to photos of singular flowers such as roses, which also symbolize beauty. I find this particularly interesting because Naomi White is taking something basic and insignificant, and turning it into something beautiful.

I hope to replicate this photography style in the photography studio soon. For this I will need:

• Multiple plastic bags of different colours, weights and densities.
• A white background
• Blue tack or something sticky
• A camera

Plastic Bag Photoshoot.

To take these photos, I first set up a black piece of card, a black background and had a flash- head facing a stand, where I attached my plastic bags and then photographed it using a canon camera.

My Camera Settings.

This is my contact sheet of all the photos I have taken.

This is my favourite image I took as I think it looks very high quality image and I like the blue colour against the black background. I also removed all dust particles and small objects from the background which makes it looks like the bag is floating in the air which Is the idea is was aiming for.

For this photoshoot, I went into the studio and photographed various plastic bags that I found on the beach. These bags ranged from large, to small and old, to new. They also came in a range of colours. I used a camera, a light, and a stand to hold up my bags and photograph them with a black background to have solo shots of each one individually. I think this photoshoot went well, however to improve I would like to have a white background to match my photographer inspiration ‘Naomi White‘.

Comparisons:

I have created a virtual gallery edit on Photoshop of my Anthropocene photoshoot in the lighting studio. I chose these 3 images as they all have a black background and have 3 different colours of green, white and blue which shows the variety of plastics that can be found on Jersey’s beaches.

I edited these photos and chose this specific empty gallery image so that two of the photos are facing in and the main, larger images to be facing forwards so that It is the first main picture the eyes will look at.

I also created a virtual gallery on Photoshop of my AI adapted images on Photoshop. I wanted the two similar images to be the main focal point as it is the same image adapted in different ways to show two different perspectives and possibilities. I also included a direct comparison of a a waste filled beach which is a negative view of humans effects of the planet. This image then faces an image that is a green, improved road which is a positive view of humans effects on the planet.

I then have made another virtual gallery of three similar images from a photoshoot. These photos all incorporate bright colours so I decided to arrange them into 3 separate images in a line with the two single objects with a black background on the left and right, I then have put the colourful one filled with objects into the middle of the two.

I then have arranged my photos into an arrangement of all 3 in a row at different heights. This is due to the fact they are all slightly different sizes and will not fit in a uniform row on the gallery wall. I think these photos compliment each other very well as they are all slightly different but still very similar, this creates an interesting effect and looks strong.

My final virtual gallery captures two images I have already displayed in a virtual gallery but in a different arrangement and a different photo. I think this gallery as not as strong as the previous as the colourful photo on the left is not in the middle to balance out the picture. However, I wanted to experiment with different galleries for these particular images.