Photographer Research - Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French humanist photographer, and is one of which who helped develop street photography. Cartier-Bresson has been a painter, a photojournalist and an author of the book 'The decisive moment'. After receiving his first camera in the 1920s, Cartier-Bresson became inspired by Martin Munkacsi who was a photojournalist. It was Munkacsi's photograph 'Three Boys at Lake Tanganyika' that influenced Cartier-Bresson, and helped him to decide to take up photography seriously and full-time. This is because it was this photograph that helped Cartier-Bresson "suddenly understand that a photograph could fix eternity in an instant" as this image captured the laughter and enjoyment from the boys playing in the lake. Cartier-Bresson has inspired many photographers, as his classic black-and-white street photography is candid and shows real life moments in their most natural form. Cartier-Bresson has influenced a lot of my own work within street photography as his work isn't staged or prepared for, he just photographed the public when he saw the opportunity, and I enjoy this style of photography and try and emulate it through my own work. Therefore, I wanted to research Cartier-Bresson's work because it is classic and candid, but also, I wanted to use it as a basis of the photographs that I could take for modern society. As Cartier-Bresson photographed the 30s and onwards, from his images we get an insight of what life was like back in those years. Thus, I wanted to use Cartier-Bresson's work as a comparison with my own, to show the differences and similarities of what life was like back in the 30s/40s/50s, to how they are now in 2016. 

This is a shot Henri Cartier-Bresson took of escalators in which I believe is a train station. The photo is very dark because it looks as though it is underground, and obviously it is also black-and-white. However, because of the darkness on either side of the photo, the centre is framed so that we can see the escalators which were lit up, and very faintly we can see a person about to walk on to the escalator. I chose this photo in particular because the appearance of train stations hasn't changed very much, so in modern day, I am able to take photographs like this one. Comparing my photographs with Cartier-Bresson's, I am able to see the differences between the two era's. 

This is a photograph that Cartier-Bresson took in a very busy crowd. I like this photo in particular because we get to see the type of clothes and what was fashionable back when the image was taken. As we can see from the two women near the front of the photo, they are both wearing cat-eye sunglasses, and pearls around their necks, as well as polka-dot dresses. Cartier-Bresson's photography allows us to see what people were like and what they used to wear on a daily basis back in the 40s/50s. I personally find the different styles and fashions from each era interesting because they are all very different, but also, from photos like this we are able to compare it to what is fashionable today, and what we wear on a daily basis. Although Cartier-Bresson's work isn't fashion related at all, his street photography still lets us see different aspects like fashion through those eras. 

This photo interests me not only because of the clothes the little boys are wearing, but because of what they are playing with. First of all, the boys are wearing knee-high socks and smart shirts and coats, which is unusual for modern day children, especially since they are playing outside. Also, the two boys in front seem to be playing with toy guns and having a 'stand off'. I like this photo very much because playing outside is one of the greatest activities for children, as they get to use their imaginations and run wild. Whereas children in this age decide to sit and play on phones and tablets, and although this is an amazing technological improvement, it also means that children don't get to play outside and explore like children used too. This photo captures the enjoyment and fun the children are having. 

This is one of Henri Cartier-Bresson's most famous photographs that he captured of a man cycling past, whilst he stood on a stairwell. Cartier-Bresson was able to capture the movement of the cyclist as he is the only part of the image that is blurred, everything else is completely in focus. This is a very candid shot, but being able to see the classic bicycle and cobbled streets gives us an insight of the streets of France back when Cartier-Bresson was photographing. I also like this shot because Cartier-Bresson must have taken it very quickly, to get the exact moment where the cyclist was just riding past. 

This is one of the images I shot whilst in London, where I was focusing on the people and the views that London has to offer. In this shot, we can see people standing on the escalators in the train station, as well as rushing around at the bottom. Like Cartier-Bresson's image above this photo is very dark as it was underground, which is why I decided to edit it to black-and-white, this made it very much like Cartier-Bresson's work. I like this image because it is very ordinary, but by looking at it for a long time we can see all the different people walking and standing around, and it becomes far more interesting when we question where these people are heading and what they are doing. Street photography is one of my favourite styles of photography, as I like capturing photos of people in the most natural form, as it allows photographs to capture certain moments and memories. 

I chose to include this image, as I like to compare Henri Cartier-Bresson's shot of the cyclist, with this one that I also took in London. This photo is very modern as we can see from the style of the bike, and what the person is wearing. I also like this shot because the man has stopped to check his phone, which is very modern. I had to capture this image quickly, but still try to keep the focus, before the man set off again, and so he didn't know I was taking the photo, which makes this photo realistic and natural. I took a few photos like this whilst in London of people using their phones to take photos and 'selfies' and I think this perfectly represents what modern life is really like - technology based. 

In summary, I like the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson because it is candid and classic. However, I also like the modern images that I have created using the influence and style of Cartier-Bresson's work. As I have looked and compared Cartier-Bresson's images with my own, and have found that the differences have interested me the most, I want to experiment a lot more. Therefore, I plan to do a shoot within my exam of the different styles and types of fashion through the eras. As Cartier-Bresson started photographing quite early in the 1930s, I think I want to show the differences from then all the way up to what it is like now. Although I enjoy the street photography, I think I want to do a studio shoot and really focus on the fashion differences of the eras.