Henri Cartier-Bresson - The Decisive Moments of Street Photography Master

Hello everyone! Today I would like to talk about one of my most favorite photographer, a legendary street photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson. I will briefly go through his life and what inspired him to become one of the most inspiring photographers, and I will display what are in my opinion his best photos. Lets see what we can learn about the composition and much more. 

So why should you be interested in Henri Cartier-Bresson? There is probably  not a single photographer with a greater influence on modern photojournalism than him. But let's go back to the beginning.

Henri was born in France in 1908 to a wealthy family running a textile business. His father loved painting but It was actually his mother who took him on trips to the Louvre in Paris. At quite an early age, Henri decided he wouldn't follow in his father's footsteps in business, even though his father and grandfather wanted him to join in. 

This situation actually escalated and he had to move out at the age of 19 and decided to become a painter. After going through a few schools and teachers he settled on a cubist painter Andre Lhote. Under his guidance, Cartier Bresson developed his vision, philosophy and love for geometry. We can say he became a photographer by studying painting.

As a great example of geometry and order, we can take a look at this image -  one of the most famous images of Cartier-Bresson. We can see a strong figure to ground relationship in the cyclist frozen in time,  and the hand rail leads the eyes of the viewer TO the cyclist.

Hyéres, France (1932)

But let’s go back to the start; as a kid he Started with Brownei. I don’t know the actual model he used but just to give you an idea this is what Brownei looks like. Later on he used a tripod black cloth walnut camera 3 by 4 inches that does not have a shutter, so what you had to do, was you had to use a lens cap  to expose manually.

Now, moving on, in search of adventure, and also, as he said being kind of fed up with europe, he left for Africa.

“I left for Africa. I was hunting with a head lantern. I sold the meat. I caught bilharzia and had to come back. Painting was still my obsession and photography to me was a sketchbook, immediate drawings, questions-answers.” (Henri cartier-Bresson)

At first he worked as a woodcutter, planter or storekeeper and later as a hunter. He was taught how to use gun by his grandfather and father and he would actually use a lamp attached to his forehead to be able to hunt at night.

“(Photography) It is a physical pleasure, like hunting except we don’t kill “ (Henri Cartier-Bresson)

In his own words what actually brought him into the world of photography was the work of a Hungarian photographer, Martin Munkácsi, especially this photo of kids running into the waves.

He decided to buy a small Krauss camera and he started taking photos of landscapes and streets - unfortunately, almost all the photos were damaged due to the camera  getting damp.

The reason he didn't stay in Africa much longer was actually  a serious sickness that almost cost him his life. This trip actually shaped his concept of travelling and he kept this up for the rest of his life. To be able to see not only the bright side but also the dark side of life you have to eventually stay long enough. 

“I don't like journeys. I dont. I hate travelling. I enjoy being in a country and observing it.” (Henri cartier-Bresson)

All of those important moments actually shaped his vision of the world. After that he decided to fully switch from painting to photography and he destroyed almost all his paintings. After returning to Europe, he searched for a camera to be mobile with as he wanted to photograph life and such a thing was simply not possible with a tripod. He ended up with a Leica.

Together with his friends he traveled around Europe for two years and it was during that time he took one of his best-known Images: Place de l'Europe Gare Saint Lazare (1932).

Place de l'Europe Gare Saint Lazare (1932)

We can call it the beginning of snapshot photography, as it was really a new approach in 1932 also because it was shot handheld. He was just passing by a construction site with this temporary fence, interestingly there are so many techniques that came together in this particular picture. Such as a strong figure to ground relationship (Which I have talked about in my other article) replications and reflections, there is also this tension and anticipation caused by the man just ALMOST touching the water. If you look closely you can see echoing shapes of the leaping figure on the posters as well. This photo would be an embodiment of the so called “decisive moment”. 

What's also interesting is Place de l'Europe is one of the few photographs that Cartier-Bresson ever chose to crop.  As he was passing by he put his camera In between planks in a way that the fence blocked his viewfinder completely, together with a part of his lens, and took the photo.

He continued to travel around the world and in 1934 he left for Mexico where he stayed for a year and then moved on to NewYork the year after. Once he returned to France, he worked on a film with Jean Renoir but eventually went back to still photography. He defined himself as an anarchist and did not like directing people. He liked the script writing (or as we can say telling the story) but not directing.

“It takes such a lot of time to make a film, to edit it. I don't like directing people.” (Henri Cartier-Bresson)

He worked for  he communist - Ce Suir newspaper - and was sent to cover King George VI’s coronation. Unlike other photographers, he focused on the crowd watching. That was his idea of how to capture the spirit of the nation.

What's interesting about this picture is - when you show it to kids, or people in general, they will probably say those people are taking selfies.  It was actually so difficult to see over the crowds so the people were equipped with mirrors and some kind of periscopes to be able to see over the crowd. 

His painting background heavily influenced his vision of the world as we can see in this photo where you can see many similarities with impressionist paintings and especially with this one of Georges Pierre Seurat, as this photograph is considered to be a classic image of Henri Cartier Bresson.

During world war II he was photographing for the Army photography office. In 1940 he was captured by the german army and imprisoned for 3 years. He tried to escape three times and then eventually succeeded. When asked what was his greatest journey, he would reply that it was those three attempts to escape. Later in his life would travel to many countries and took so many amazing photographs. As for the developing the images he was actually never interested in the process. For him time spent in a darkroom was time he could not spend on the street. He was one of the founding members of Magnum photos.

He did not consider himself a photographer, he said that he uses a camera, but there are millions of photographers. According to him - Great photography is a combination of shapes, geometry and other elements, some kind of sensitivity or imagination that you can not easily describe. Portraits were the most difficult because, as he said , you have to pretend you are not there. I like portraits because it is very difficult. “Putting a camera between the shirt and the skin.”

When asked about rules and techniques he said they are indeed important but in the end you shoot with intuition. Do not get too obsessed with dark room sharpness. And so If you still find yourself having trouble with post processing at the moment. It should not be the reason for you not to shoot. Just focus on the form and - you know - shoot black and white or even jpeg for a while.

His book, The decisive Moment, is also known as One of the most important photography monographs. Robert Capa called it the bible of photographers. The name was actually taken from a quote by Cardinal Retz “There is nothing in this world that does not bare a decisive moment.” There is a ten page long preface If you ever have a chance to read it, give it a shot because it’s fantastic. The book was actually not a huge financial success when it was released. For Bresson, the book represented a permanent exhibition, unlike magazines or newspapers for example.

This one is actually my most favorite one. You can see here - even though we can find many design or composition errors, or let’s say - he broke so many rules in this one. He cut out the feet of the boy, we can see a kind of edge flicker represented by the cut arm on the left, the wall is coming out of his head. The boy is right in the middle. But still  - the emotion, the facial expressions, the mood, those elements are so strong that they make this photo, in my opinion, one of the most iconic ever taken. It was actually one of Bresson’s best selling photographs.

If you're interested in learning more, check out this book: “The Modern Century" is a comprehensive book published in 2010 that celebrates the life and work of Henri Cartier-Bresson. Authored by Peter Galassi, former chief curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the book was released in conjunction with a major retrospective exhibition of Cartier-Bresson's work at MoMA.