The Decisive Moment – Cartier-Bresson

One photographer who’s work I have always admired is Henri Cartier-Bresson. Bresson was a french photographer and is best known for his photojournalistic style of photography. He actually started out as a painter at a young age and was inspired by the photo titled “Three Boys at Lake Tanganyika” taken by Hungarian photojournalist Martin Munkacsi. This photo captured the freedom and spontaneity of their movement and their joy at being alive. Cartier-Bresson said:
“The only thing which completely was an amazement to me and brought me to photography was the work of Munkacsi. When I saw the photograph of Munkacsi of the black kids running in a wave I couldn’t believe such a thing could be caught with the camera. I said damn it, I took my camera and went out into the street. I suddenly understood that a photograph could fix eternity in an instant.” He bought his first Leica after this and set out to document real life. He said, “I prowled the streets all day, feeling very strung-up and ready to pounce, ready to ‘trap’ life.” He coined the term “The Decisive Moment” which was the title of a book he published in 1952.

Here is part one of a very cool documentary on him. You can see the rest of the video on youtube.

Who inspires you in your photography? Would love to hear your feedback in the comments section below.