Objective: to learn about a photography legend and use his work to inspire you and your image making.

 

The studio is back up and running, hurricane Ike has come and gone and we have power again finally!  Sorry this lesson is late but I have to blame Ike for that.

One of my very favorite photographers is Henri Cartier-Bresson.  He was a French photographer (sadly passed away in 2004).  He is considered to be the father of modern photojournalism.  He developed a style of photography called "street photography" and was a master of candid photography.  He was also one of the first people to embrace the 35 mm film format.  He has been a huge influence on photography as we know it today and inspired generations of photographers.

 

He was a painter before he was a photographer but the work of one particular photographer caught his eye and he has been quoted as saying, "I suddenly understood that a photograph could fix eternity in an instant."  He traveled the world and photographed alongside other greats such as Robert Capa and Walker Evans.

 

In 1952, he published his book The Decisive Moment.  It included 126 of his photographs and the book's cover was drawn by Henri Matisse.  In his preface, he says, "There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative".  This idea became the term that he is famous for, The Decisive Moment.

 

Cartier-Bresson used a Leica 35 mm rangefinder camera equipped with a 50 mm lens for his street work.  It has been said that he would wrap black tape around the camera's silver parts to make the camera less obvious to people around him. He shot in black and white and believed that you should crop in camera and not later in the darkroom.  When he printed his photographs, he would include the edge of the unexposed clear negative around the image, which gives you a black border showing that the full frame has been printed.  Now we can add the black border digitally but before digital, you would take a metal file and file out the opening of the negative holder to expose that edge and show that you were printing "full frame".

Cartier-Bresson has been described as one of the art world's most unassuming personalities. He did not care for publicity and even dismissed the term "art" when it was applied to his images.

 

If you would like to take a look at a digital version of this book, check it out here.  It's not a great reproduction but it will give you an idea what his work looked like.

 

So, how can you apply this theory to your image making?  When I am shooting in the studio, I shoot fast and watch intently waiting for that type of decisive moment.  I study my subject.  We all know what The Decisive Moment feels like.  You've either experienced it shooting or just seen it in real life.  The eye moves into just the perfect position or an amazing expression lights up onto someone's face.  I love that moment and when I am shooting and feel it happen it is an awesome moment for me.  It's exhilarating like a spark.  Cartier-Bresson said, "I prowled the streets all day, feeling very strung-up and ready to pounce, ready to 'trap' life."  I love the moment when I feel like I've trapped it.

 

This image (below) was one of a series of shots where it all just lined up and the expression was perfect, the feet did what I wanted them to do, the depth-of-field fall off was good and the lights in the eyes were perfect.  In this situation you need to shoot fast and really watch the subject through the lens waiting for all the elements to fall into place and then, click!

 

 

 

 

This next image was taken at a park and the kids were just playing along the railing.  I love how the little boy dropped his eye right into the opening of the bars (which look like an eye too).

 

 

 

 

This image is also one of my favorites.  I knew it when I shot it that I had captured the moment.  Mom was just smiling at her baby and, overcome with happiness and admiration, leaned forward.

 

 

 

 

I love kids expressions when they are joyful and full of energy.

 

 

 

 

I shot this next image yesterday during a session here at the studio.  In the frame before this, she had her hand in her mouth but the smile hadn't yet crept onto her face.  Here you can see the slight upturn of her smile and I love it.  It was just a spli second later.

 

 

 

 

This is another favorite.  I love how you can see a little bit of Mom in the background.  He was crawling back and forth on the bench having a great time.  When he would get to me he'd get all excited and smile.

 

 

 

 

What I love about the idea of The Decisive Moment is that it encourages you to really watch what you are photographing.  I have heard a lot of Moms say that some of their best pictures are when the kids aren't aware they are photographing them.  One way that you can do this is to get a longer lens or a zoom lens and sit away from your kids and be stealthy like Bresson.  Trap the moment!  (lens question?  Try here.)

 

Have you ever had that feeling of capturing The Decisive Moment?  I'd love to see it and hear about it.  Please post your comments and links to your images.  You can also upload images to The Monday Lesson Flickr Group.

 

Have a great week everyone, go trap some moments!