Henri Cartier-Bresson

 

Notes from magazine page:

·         He was an expert in the way he composed his images, using the thirds rule, leading lines and shape. These rules are applied perfectly and the magazine text explains how he uses  it in the orange highlighted area.

·         After recovering from illness he got back on the streets and continued to shoot with a new mission, ‘to trap life, to preserve life in the act of living’. To do this he used a 35mm Leica because it provided him the discretion he needed to get the job done. He continued to use this for the next 60 years

·         Started out painting, then decide to work as a photographer

·         He co-founded Magnum  photos with Robert Capa, George Rodger, David Seymour and William Vandivert

·         He travelled in the east then produced a book called images a la Sauvette (the decisive moment)

·         After leading the life of a pioneer he died at the age of 96 picking up accolades like ‘the father of photojournalism’   

Continued research from magnumphotos.com  

After reading a bit about Henri Cartier-Bresson in a magazine I decide to have a look at some of his other work on the magnum site.

Pictures from http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult_VPage&VBID=2K1HZONIKVYDI&SMLS=1&RW=1233&RH=615  

These are some of my favourite pieces of work by him.

This is another good example of where leading lines are used. The curbs on each side of the road lead your eyes up in the point of interest of the picture which is the child who looks to be talking to a cat. I also like how the child is positioned in the lightest part of the road which was done by shooting at the appropriate height and angle. This makes you more aware of him or her because of the deep contrast of tones, otherwise we would be drawn to the lightest parts of the picture which are the sky and the buildings in the next alley.

 

 

Out of the three this is my favourite because from I technical point of view it’s pretty much perfect in my opinion. It uses the leading lines to draw us up the girl who’s perfectly central. There are points of interest on each of the lines of thirds. The shadow in the door on the right is positioned perfectly because it doesn’t intrude the framing around the window. The gate in the left is almost perfectly in line with the door above it. There is a lot to learn from this picture but the clearest lesson of all is to take time when possible to compose your image properly even in the challenging environment of street photography.

 

 

I like this one because the silver tones in the far wall and the banking separates it from most of his street work.  He also take this from afar, which isn’t typical Henri. Despite that I think you can still tell it’s his work because of the organisation that has gone into the production of the composition. He has positioned himself so that all the lines in the picture point in the same direction (bottom left to top right) including the tree. You don’t notice this until you have studied it for a while but then you realise that it’s a vital part of this picture.

Evaluation of this research

I think this research has been very worthwhile because it’s taught me to take my time when possible to organise my composition and not to be afraid to wait around a good area for the right people to enter the frame because at the end of the day it’s about getting the best picture