What's up with photography fans, Martin is here, from All About Street Photography channel, and today I want to talk about this particular picture Hyères France, the cyclist by Henri Cartier- Bresson. I am going to take a closer look at the composition as well as at the story behind the photograph, if you are not familiar with Henri Cartier-Bresson make sure to check my previous video about his life and photography.

What we are looking at is a black and white photograph taken in France in (1932) by one of the most well-known street photographer “Henri Cartier Bresson”. He actually took the picture while on a holiday during a walk around the town. Even though, the photo looks very spontaneous what we probably see here is a result of the so called “fishing technique”. Photographer’s would find a good location and then wait for a suitable subject to enter the frame and complete the composition.

When we look at the composition, we can see this spiral created by handrail which kind of leads us to the main subject. “The Cyclist” who is captured with almost a perfect figure to ground the relationship. If we would like to be real perfectionist, we would point out the head of the cyclist that is losing contrast because it’s touching this curve.

Now, this is important because what we have here is basically a silhouette and when capturing silhouette, the photographer has to make sure that the subject is easily recognized. That’s why it is popular to capture people in street photograph with their arms and legs separated because it is easy to read by a viewer. When you capture silhouette like this there's a very little information you provide for the viewer other than the shape. If you don’t use the proper figure to ground the relationship or you do not separate the shape properly what you end up presenting to the viewer is a formless subject.

When we look at this photograph of a cyclists, you see right away it is kind of hard to read what is going on and what is the subject. You might be wondering why someone would want to take a photo of the subject like cyclist from above. I have actually edited this brilliant photo taken by Michal Červený: called “Cape Epic”. Now, look at the original photo, what you actually see first when looking at the photograph are the shadows which masterfully uses the figure to ground the relationship and then lead the eyes to the actual cyclist.


The photo actually won the “Czech Sports Photography of the Year” (2017).

So, basically what you want to do in your street photography in case you are photographing people (or other subjects) for the composition and not expression , you want to make use of this two-dimensional view (2D) as it is very easy to recognize . You can actually get inspired by paintings of old Egyptians in the pyramids as this is basically one of the most common techniques they used.

Now back to the Cartier-Bresson. The curve that is together with the cyclist actually emphasizes the movement and makes otherwise static picture dynamic. These dynamics are emphasized by the stationary handrails, almost like if the picture was actually moving

When Cartier-Bresson talked about a composition he said:

“Photography implies the recognition of a rhythm in the world of real things.” - Henri Cartier - Bresso (The Decisive moment)

According to Bresson, the decisive moment is unique to the photography since works of painters or sculptors can adjust their work to their liking. Such a thing is simply impossible for upstaged street photography.

The picture was taken with his Leica with a 50mm lens, which he bought in Marseilles not too long before that time, the camera had actually pretty big impact on his photography since it was one of the first handheld cameras and that would allow him to move around much more freely adopting and defining the style that would later become known as photojournalism.

If you're interested in learning more, check out this book - "Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographer" is a photography book that showcases the work of the legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. First published in 1979, the book was compiled and edited by Cartier-Bresson himself, in collaboration with the well-known photo editor and designer Yves Saada. This comprehensive volume features a selection of more than 150 black-and-white photographs, spanning Cartier-Bresson's career from the 1930s to the 1970s. The images include some of his most iconic works, as well as lesser-known photographs that reflect his unique vision and humanistic approach to photography.

For more information about (HCB) feel free to check out my video about him. I hope you liked today's story behind this picture and learned something new.