I'd like to get that shot.
Many times I can catch the decisive moment in one shot, but sometimes it takes more and then to find it requires one to do some editing. Who really cares if it take more than one photograph? If someone had the audacity to criticize me for taking more than one photograph to capture the decisive moment, they better no be standing near window because hypothetically or actually the would be thrown through a window at the decisive moment.
Agree completely!Well, the fact of the matter is, that's unimportant. That he saw or invented something, took several shots to get just the right image (in his opinion) of that -- that doesn't diminish the final image or the effort. It doesn't make it any less of a "decisive moment", either. This photo:
View attachment 385917
He waited for something interesting. Maybe he took 36 photos of various people, dogs, cats, etc., wandering around down there. But this is the photo he presented.
Would you fault a painter for painting a dozen canvasses of one subject before hitting upon the one he or she thought was worthy of exhibition?
I don’t see how one can ‘prove’ a working concept to be BS. I think a lot of people have understood exactly what he meant. My impression is that HCB had great personal integrity, while at the same time having a mercurial intellect.
And further to the points @Don_ih just made, you would apparently fault him for selecting his decisive moment and not sharing his dross, but would you fault him or any photographer for all the times they didn’t press the button because the moment wasn’t right? Selection - both before and after exposure - is very much part of expression. That’s what this thread is all about.
Very nice. Besides probably violating copyright law, how does this pertain to the query of why HCB chose the photograph in question?
… but sold it on because its size was disproportionate to its interest for me.
It’s a Zen thing. You know it when it happens. You wait, or you move, maybe only millimetres; then suddenly there it is. As HCB put it, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes”. But he was emphasising the decisiveness of that one shot, not five alternatives.I’ve always wondered how folks know the difference between “the” decisive moment and “a” decisive moment without knowing the context of potential options.
{Moderator note: link removed, as it is likely a link to a site in breach of copyright}
It might be worthwhile for people to go back up and read what Alex wrote about the term "decisive moment".
It’s a Zen thing. You know it when it happens. You wait, or you move, maybe only millimetres; then suddenly there it is. As HCB put it, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes”. But he was emphasising the decisiveness of that one shot, not five alternatives.
… or listen to some old George Harrison songs.
I would think that "fair use" would apply in this case, but with today's Supreme Court, you never know.
A painter will usually make dozens of sketches before committing to paint on canvas. And then he or she might make many versions of the subject/image, exploring it. Witness Monet's Cathedral of Rouen--there are 30 canvases, pretty much all from the same point of view. In addition, a painter (except with watercolor) can paint over the image multiple times, making major or minute changes as he or she wishes. de Kooning would draw on pieces of tracing paper and move the bits around a work in progress, often over a long period, to get the result he was happy with.Would you fault a painter for painting a dozen canvasses of one subject before hitting upon the one he or she thought was worthy of exhibition?
{Moderator note: link removed, as it is likely a link to a site in breach of copyright}
Perhaps you can quote the important part?
You don't violate copyright quoting text from an article, particularly in a (basically) academic discussion such as this.
Sharing an excerpt is fair.
Making the whole publication available for download without charge? Not so.
HCB comes across as a reluctant interviewee, giving brief and often evasive answers. In the interview with Avedon he seems almost sulky. Because of this attitude/manner he sometimes contradicted what he said in other interviews. For instance, when Avedon asked him what Surrealism meant to him, and he shrugged and said “I’ve no idea - never thought about it”. Yet in another interview which I can’t pinpoint just now, he was asked “So are you a Surrealist?”, at which he smiled shyly and very quietly said “Yes”.
He was similarly ambiguous about the whole ‘decisive moment’ thing, as @Alex Benjamin has illustrated. He clearly disliked being pinned to a static, un-nuanced viewpoint.
We tend to give many average people without much knowledge too much credit because they gained some notoriety. In America, it's often actors from Hollywood who have gained fame that we listen to. They seem to know which investments to make and what medications to take. Then we go broke and die early because we listened to them. We might be better off following our own North Star.
Alan, you cannot seriously be implying that Henri Cartier-Bresson is an "average" person "without much knowledge." You're making it sound like he's the equivalent of Scott Baio. I must be reading you wrong.
We tend to give many average people without much knowledge too much credit because they gained some notoriety. In America, it's often actors from Hollywood who have gained fame that we listen to. They seem to know which investments to make and what medications to take. Then we go broke and die early because we listened to them. We might be better off following our own North Star.
HCB comes across as a reluctant interviewee, giving brief and often evasive answers. In the interview with Avedon he seems almost sulky. Because of this attitude/manner he sometimes contradicted what he said in other interviews. For instance, when Avedon asked him what Surrealism meant to him, and he shrugged and said “I’ve no idea - never thought about it”. Yet in another interview which I can’t pinpoint just now, he was asked “So are you a Surrealist?”, at which he smiled shyly and very quietly said “Yes”.
He was similarly ambiguous about the whole ‘decisive moment’ thing, as @Alex Benjamin has illustrated. He clearly disliked being pinned to a static, un-nuanced viewpoint.
We tend to give many average people without much knowledge too much credit because they gained some notoriety. In America, it's often actors from Hollywood who have gained fame that we listen to. They seem to know which investments to make and what medications to take. Then we go broke and die early because we listened to them. We might be better off following our own North Star.
Alan, you cannot seriously be implying that Henri Cartier-Bresson is an "average" person "without much knowledge." You're making it sound like he's the equivalent of Scott Baio. I must be reading you wrong.
This.
I was thinking along the lines of "the emperor wears no clothes." We often give too much credit to people we are enamored of who don't deserve it. I've watched some famous photographers in YouTube interviews and they are the worst. Some were just annoying, ignorant louts. Now I don't know HCB personally, and he may be a genius. But it's still a good idea to take everything people say with a grain of salt.Good lord.
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