To what extent is Henri Cartier Bresson’s theory of the ‘decisive moment’ a true representation of reality?

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.
– Henri Cartier-Bresson, “Foreword,” The Decisive Moment (1952)

What does photography really capture? Is it the essence of a moment? Is the emotions of a scene? Or is it simply just an image? Photography as an art is such a subjective genre. Within photography, there is a multitude of different styles of how images are presented, for example, portraits, landscapes, documentary etc. Even these categories have different approaches that can be taken. My project focuses on the documentary style photography. But what actually is it? Documentary photography is a way to tell stories through only an image, it portrays the contrasting lives of the ordinary people around us. Documentary photography can be seen in many different forms such as street photography, which what my project is related to, photojournalism, reporting and others. My investigation will consist of exploring and documenting the same people/ groups of people, my friends and family – socially and isolated, but in different environments and situations. Although my images will use the same subjects, the photographs will be portraying the different parts of their lives, and in some way reflecting who they are, which is the narrative of my project. I have decided to take my images in the documentary style because I find that these images are the most authentic, however the reason I will be photographing only those close to me, rather than outsiders like street photography does, is to add a personal touch to my project. This way, my images will have consistency as well as being captivating, with each photo you will discover and learn more. This project discusses street photography, photographers who’s work is based on street photography, as well as my own interpretations and my own photographs produced. To take good documentary style photographs, you need to be able to observe the environment you are in and decide what would be the shot that will capture people’s attention. This means ensuring the composition, the light, the atmosphere of the scene are all what would make the most aesthetic, perfect image. This process of image making is known as the ‘decisive moment’ by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Tom Wood – Photie Man

Tom Wood is an Irish photographer, who lived and worked in different places in the UK, mainly in Liverpool. The book consists of images of the town’s people in clubs, streets, beaches, everywhere of mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, friends, lovers etc. His book is a way of showing others, a small story of strangers lives.

The title of this photobook is ‘Photie Man’, inspired by the nickname he was known as by the locals who he would take photographs of, and who would see him out always with his camera.

The cover of the book is a light brown/ beige colour with thick black writing, making his name more prominent. However, the title ‘Photie Man’ is in red bringing the attention to it. There is also a doodle-like illustration depicting a man, adding more to the cover. The cover is printed onto the paper, the designing wrapping around to the back cover.

This photobook is made up of a type of paper which isn’t quite glossy but has the same feel and is more satin. It’s slightly bigger than an A4 piece of paper and has over 200 pages with around 500 photographs. The images inside are presented in both portrait and landscape, images are displayed across a whole page, some have the paper boarder the image, presented across the double page spread or some pages even have a couple images on one.

Tom Wood’s photobook seems to intend to portray a narrative of life in Liverpool. The images in the book aren’t presented in a particular order, there may be a few images that group together so are presented with each other, for example photos from in a nightclub can be found following one another. However, the photographs are shown in such a way that reflects life itself, unpredictable.

These are the first lot of photographs that I have taken for m personal study. I have taken images of my younger brother at home, him and our mum, and photographs of my friends socialising. This is my first photoshoot to get an idea of the kinds of photos I want, and how to achieve this.

For each image, I tried to use the same black and white filter while also adjusting the exposure and contrast if needed. As well as altering things such as the highlights, shadows, whites and blacks.

Some of my images:

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For my essay I will focus my attention on the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

In the introduction, I will discuss documentary photography and explain the artist references I have used and am inspired by for my project. I will also describe the intentions of my study, what I will be investigating and how I will do so.

I will then go on to talk about some historical context which links with my study, in this case, Henri Cartier-Bresson and the decisive moment.

Also, I’ll include a more detailed explanation of one or more of my chosen artists, interpreting their work and pointing out how my project is inspired by theirs.

Finally, I will conclude my essay, surmising my projects intentions, and drawing in similarities and differences between the artists’ work and my own.

For this project, the photographs I will be taking are documentary style, capturing moments in time. My aim is to take images unplanned, and unbeknownst to the subjects, ensuring that they are completely natural. However, I will also organise times where I photograph people but I will still only capture unplanned, spontaneous images.

These shoots will consist of images inside and outside, following where they go, incorporating a variety of locations in this project, e.g. town, seaside, schools, houses etc.

My first photoshoot that I will take for this project will be focused on my friends. The photoshoot will include teenager girls together doing what they do for fun, I will document what activities they do and capture moments of them naturally.

Next, I am going to take images of my younger cousin and his friends and family. I will use the same approach, shooting them acting and doing what they usually would. These photographs will have images of the family as a whole, portraying their life but then I will also zoom in on the individual members and shoot images based on their own independent life.

My third shoot will be based on the life of my own younger brother. I will follow a similar procedure, to shoot photos of what he gets up to in the day and his routines.

I am taking inspirations from the works of photographers Tom Wood, Andriana Nativio, and Andrew Kung. I’m using different aspects of all of their images to inspire my own project. My images will reflect some parts of these artists work, whether it is the type of image, the aesthetics or the intentions.

For my personal study, I am focusing on the different lives that we all live. I am aiming to portray different ages and lifestyles, capturing moments from different peoples lives. I will be focussing on the friends and family that I have. I will aim take photographs of:

• Younger family
• Parents at home in natural environment
• Friends in school
• Friends going out

I have chosen this area of photography because it feels natural and it portrays the message that everyone lives a different life, this is what I intend to depict in this project. Photographs like this by professionals are what I find most interesting and intriguing due to the possible stories that are being shown.

For this project of observe, seek and challenge, I am using previous personal experiences to inspire it. I will bring my camera out with me when in the right environments and capture photographs of moments I have observed and think would make for a good photo. I will also be going out of my way seeking out the lives of those around me to photograph parts of their life. This is similar to Andrew Kung’s work, where he captures moments of peoples lives, exploring the themes of family, intimacy etc. in the same style as I am aiming to do.

My photographs will be taken both indoors and outdoors, capturing different moments of life, also varying in the time of day. My images will be ‘windows’, so they will be taken documentary style, following the lives of those around me and simply observing and capturing scenarios. This is similar to the photographer Tom Wood who has inspired that aspect of my project.

Once my photoshoots are complete, I will edit my images in Lightroom and on Photoshop, adjusting the levels, curves, exposure, texture etc. To finish it off, I may make the final images black and white to empathise the meaning of the images and to keep the focus of the main subjects. However, I am going to wait until I have completed all of my photoshoots to assess whether or not I think this would be the best fit. I have taken inspiration from Andriana Nativio as her images are presented in black and white which I find to be very alluring, and it draws your attention to focus solely on the image presented and the emotions and meanings behind it.

My personal study will be presented in the form of a book, presented one image at a time.

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is an Irish photographer, born in 1951, who lived and worked in different places in the UK, mainly in Liverpool. During his days of photography, he has published a multitude of books including Looking for Love, Men / Women, and more. in 1973, Wood started to take photographs with a more serious manner and attitude towards it. Throughout his photography, he has used many different types of cameras, printing types and film types, which leaves a different feel to each of is photographs. He has used old cine film and out of date film stock to take his images causing a grainy quality to the outcomes.

Wood’s photographs all have an old, timey look to them from the period of time they were taken. Many of the photographs by Wood have a lot of colour which pops and draws in your attention because of the usually, darker backgrounds, sometimes caused by the dark time of day or because of the surrounding environment. The photographs that I am focussing on of his, are the ones that capture people, they are mix of candid photographs of people in their natural domain or staged images of people posing in front of the camera. However, his way of photographing these people always seems genuine and raw whether or not they are set up.

Wood has a variety of projects and aims of his photography such as his ‘Looking for Love’ project. The images taken for this are inside of a popular nightclub in darker lights. His photos captured the typical manic nightlife of the drunken customers who were either full of life, partying or half asleep, ready to leave. He was able to capture these images because of the trust he would gain from the people, Wood said, “People were so made up when I went to the trouble to make a print for them that, when you saw them again, they and their friends would accept you”, this is how he would make them comfortable enough to allow him to photograph more often. Another project of his is ‘Men / Women’ in which, he’d take photographs of men and women, separately for the most part, who were working-class. These images consisted of them looking and posing for the camera in their natural scene, however, some images were candids taken without the need for staging.

Andriana Nativio

Andriana Nativio is a photographer born in Cleveland, Ohio, who now lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona. She has done many projects such as, ‘As We Rest in the Shadows’, ‘sleeping bear’ and others. In 2023, she was named one of Lens Culture’s Emerging Talents in Photography and her work has been featured in group exhibitions across the United States.

Nativio’s work is usually in black and white and her images explore femininity, childhood and memory. Her project ‘As We Rest in the Shadows’ consists of photographs of two young girls who are captured having fun, playing and talking, just acting like normal girls. Nativio said about this project, “My photographs meld the sisters’ journey & my memories together in an attempt to return to my girlhood”. This project records the tranquillity of life when you are younger and free. This work has inspired me to dive into the aspect of childhood and to capture and explore images of different parts of it.

Another project by Nativio is ‘Sleeping Bear’, these photographs by her were taking over a month at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore in Empire, Michigan. These photographs are of many different people, different ages, races, family dynamics. Some of the images are portrait photographs where the subjects are posed in front of the camera, however, some are candid photographs of moments people aren’t expecting to be documented. I think this project is a really good one as it captures many different people who are all at the same place at the same time but with no intention of being so. It is a way to portray the differences between each individual.

Andrew Kung

Andrew Kung is an Asian-American photographer who lives and works in New York City. His images focus on place, identity, and belonging. Kung often uses his own lived-through experiences to produce his images. ‘Through my images, my aim is to normalize Asian American beauty, belonging, and individuality.  I often investigate themes of masculinity, family, intimacy, and what it means to be American’ —Andrew Kung

Kung started out photographing for brand such as Nike and Adidas before he decided to start his own series. This was ‘The Mississippi Delta Chinese’, in this project, he documented a small Chinese community. This project was the start of him reclaiming his own Asian identity. He then began to have conversations with his family and friends figuring out it meant to be Asian American to each person, he also read more literature, and watched more movies to learn more about and find comfort in who he is.

The photographs by Andrew Kung that I am focussing on and taking inspiration from, use the natural sunlight to capture the images. This way, his images are all the accurate white balance, keeping the lightening even. Often, the photographs are taken when the sun is setting, using the natural orange/golden glow to highlight certain aspects of the picture. This adds a familiar feel to the photographs and draws in the viewers attention as there is now a hint of brighter colour in the image.

Mind Map & Mood Board

Still Life

Still life is an arrangement of objects, typically including fruit and flowers and objects contrasting with these in texture, such as bowls and glassware. I found this project enjoyable to work with as I was able to take photographers images, from past and present, and produce my own photos inspired by them. I could photograph things that represented me, or intrigued me, making the project feel more personal.

My images:

Environmental Portraits

An environmental portrait is a portrait taken in the subject’s usual environment, for example, in their home or place of work. These types of photographs can reveal things about the person photographed, such as where they feel the happiest or most content. Since it’s in their natural environment rather than in a studio where photographs can be forced, the photos can almost tell a story of the subject as they’re being captured in their own, personal element. This was an interesting project as it was an opportunity to explore photography in another way. I had to take photographs of strangers, in their place of work, their natural environment, rather than in a studio. I like that for this photoshoot, my photographs could represent the strangers life, and the only thing that I controlled was taking the image itself.

My images:

Femininity Vs Masculinity

Femininity and masculinity are binary opposite, meaning they are a pair or related terms which mean the opposite to one another. Femininity and Masculinity can be described as the qualities or attributes of women or Men. The typical stereotypes of women tend to be kind, loving, helpful, nurturing, emotional and others related. For men, it’s being strong, powerful, scary, violent, assertive and others. I really enjoyed this project as I found it to be very inspiring. I knew my photoshoots had to be around ‘femininity vs masculinity’, however this was just a topic rather than a set photoshoot, so, I was able to take photograph of what inspired me and stood out to me, making m feel more motivated and involved. Which led to me producing a set of images which I am proud of.

My images:

Landscapes

A landscape is defined as all the visible features of an area of land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal. The term Landscape originates from the Dutch word landschap which originally meant ‘region, tract of land’ but then took on an artistic meaning of ‘a picture depicting scenery on land’ in the early 1500s. This landscape project was an interesting topic to learn about especially the history of it. However I found the practical side, taking the photos, to be not as inspiring as other projects.

My images:

Street Photography

I enjoyed this project and focusing on Henri Cartier-Bresson as I find this style of photography appealing. When taking my own photographs I found it interesting and found that the photographs I was taking went really well.

Mirrors:

For this photoshoot on mirrors, I will make my images reflect myself, I will aim to take photographs of myself, potentially of people close to me and objects which would reflect me that are personal. The images will be staged and I will experiment with different image types, whether it be portrait, or candid-looking photos. I will portray myself in these images of how I see myself and how I’d express myself. The intent will be similar to Cindy Sherman’s work and how she uses herself in images, portraying the view on her, and women.

Windows:

For the second half of this photoshoot ,the images I will produce will be ‘windows’. I will take photographs of places around Jersey, as a window to show of the island. However, I am not going to just take typical landscape images, I also want to show off more specific parts of the island such as a building or different entities of the island, rather than only scenic views.