The Decisive Moment

holmburgers · Jun 7, 2011

I had nothing really constructive to add, that's why I deleted my message, even though I don't think it's fair to do so in case someone read it and was in the middle of replying.

Aristophanes · Jun 7, 2011

Bresson was able to utilize new tech, take photos, and articulate a philosophy of photography. He was in the right place at the right time as a pioneer and archetype. His content has subjective merit on a continuum of appreciation. Nevertheless he is iconic for his ability for the space he created in popular and artistic culture. Argue all you want over his photographic merits, but his legacy is solid.

BrianL · Jun 7, 2011

His work tells a story and that is what makes it stand out. There are so many technically correct photos published (especially with the invention of the web and digital photography) that tells no story it sometimes makes me sick.

Trask · Jun 7, 2011

Very well said, Aristophanes.

CGW · Jun 7, 2011

There always was, and always will be, more to Magnum than HC-B.

Thomas Bertilsson · Jun 7, 2011

In such a subjective interpretation of subject matter we are all allowed to have our opinions. HCB is, to me, a true visionary. Instead of focusing on boring details like perfect exposure every time, he focused on content. It's really difficult to argue with his compositional skills, his sense of placing objects within the frame, and of capturing moments of real interest. To me it is his vision that was always his strong point, and I wholeheartedly believe he got the recognition he deserved.
I don't care what anyone else says about him, because it's what he means to me. I have seen quite a few of his Sid Kaplan printed originals, and every time I do time stops for me; I just stand there and behold, spellbound. Few photographers do that to me, and I have seen a good number of prints in my days. No intellectual justification required. Just pure enjoyment.

Bill Burk · Jun 8, 2011

A snippet from John G. Morris speech 1957 'What makes a good freelancer'...

"The photographer's Eye. The eye. Let me see a photographer's contact sheets and I can tell you whether he's got an eye. It's a pleasure to look at the contact sheets of Cartier-Bresson, especially so because Henri doesn't like to lend them out! But, they show his search, his probing of subject matter. It's fascinating to see the way he works."

tomalophicon · Jun 8, 2011

The way he's talking makes him seem like a pretty humble dude. His stuff is generally great in my opinion.

cliveh · Jun 15, 2011

Thomas Bertilsson said:
In such a subjective interpretation of subject matter we are all allowed to have our opinions. HCB is, to me, a true visionary. Instead of focusing on boring details like perfect exposure every time, he focused on content. It's really difficult to argue with his compositional skills, his sense of placing objects within the frame, and of capturing moments of real interest. To me it is his vision that was always his strong point, and I wholeheartedly believe he got the recognition he deserved.
I don't care what anyone else says about him, because it's what he means to me. I have seen quite a few of his Sid Kaplan printed originals, and every time I do time stops for me; I just stand there and behold, spellbound. Few photographers do that to me, and I have seen a good number of prints in my days. No intellectual justification required. Just pure enjoyment.

I agree completely.

holmburgers · Jan 25, 2012

Here's the final paragraph from the text of the Decisive Moment, prompted by a member accepting my above offer to share it.

To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression.

I believe that, through the act of living, the discovery of oneself is made concurrently with the discovery of the world around us which can mold us, but which can also be affected by us. A balance must be established between these two worlds - the one inside us and the one outside us. As the result of a constant reciprocal process, both these worlds come to form a single one. And it is this world that we must communicate.

But this takes care only of the content of the picture. For me, content cannot be separated from form. By form, I mean a rigorous organization of the interplay of surfaces, lines, and values. It is in this organization alone that our conceptions and emotions become concrete and communicable. In photography, visual organization can stem only from a developed instinct.

Whatever your take on Mssr. H, I think this deserves its due as a simple & eloquent way of defining that certain phenomenon that takes place when you manage to snap something incredibly special & fleeting.

holmburgers · Jan 25, 2012

Ok, ok... I'll confess that the phrase "undeniable masterpieces" is an overstatement. That phrase of mine is getting a lot of mileage being used against me, but I'm really not the poster child for HCB worship, not by a longshot. I do however, have a propensity for superlatives!

However... I certainly support the existant of a "decisive moment". I mean, that's what reportage photography is all about; photojournalism at its core. Haven't you ever seen a vision go through your eyes and wished that insted of through your eyes that it had been through your camera? That's a decisive moment, images à la sauvette. Imagine all the pictures that capture something like this. Right now, the photograph of Bobby Kennedy on the ground is coming to mind.

It's like music; you'd hate to have the albums of only 1 band. Instead you have a collection of many bands & many records; at different times you will listen to them all, taking the best out of each one and using it at the right time in your day, week, life. The same is true for photographers. There are different genres to choose from, different styles & epochs, and a photographer is nothing more than a band that you should enjoy for what they've done. Henri Cartier-Bresson is not the only band, and in fact, I'd prefer to see him as an opener.. I've got other headliners in mind. But I'll clap hardily after his set and take what I can from it.

Aristophanes · Jan 25, 2012

Is there an indecisive moment in photography?

I mean, all art criticism has its theses and counter-theses.

Samples, please.

P.S. Anne Geddes doesn't count

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 25, 2012

Cartier-Bresson might have been able to record a similarly successful image as the one linked here. But he didn't. He recorded this one, and that was HIS decisive moment.
Nobody can be everywhere watching everything at once, and cherry pick moments. You have to be there, and he was there, and to me what he got is arresting.

Explore your empathy for a moment. Put yourself in the shoes of the woman captured so well among the priests. What is she doing? Why is she there? How does it feel to her to be in that place at that moment? What are the priests discussing? Look at her facial expression, and compare it to theirs. Aren't those questions you ask yourself when you see a frame like this?

Rome, Italy, 1959

holmburgers · Jan 25, 2012

I think this could be considered an indecisive moment... http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/history/timeline/images/marey12.jpg

I like Thomas' take on it... I think another photographer that captured truly decisive moments was W. Eugene Smith.

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 25, 2012

holmburgers said:
I think this could be considered an indecisive moment... http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/history/timeline/images/marey12.jpg

I like Thomas' take on it... I think another photographer that captured truly decisive moments was W. Eugene Smith.

Ha! I've always thought Muybridge was interesting.

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 25, 2012

Michael R 1974 said:
I've made my peace (for the most part) with the fact my preferences are often at odds with those of others, and the artistic community at large. I respond differently, I guess.

We can't all be the same. Imagine how boring these discussions would be.

holmburgers · Jan 25, 2012

Thomas Bertilsson said:
Ha! I've always thought Muybridge was interesting.

Actually this is the work of Etienne Jules-Marey, though he was a contemporary of Muybridge and there is some history between them. Jules-Marey was a real scientist though, who used his camera for legitimate investigation, whereas Muybridge was more of a photographer turned scientist, or at least that's the general idea given in Marta Braun's Picturing Time: The Work of Etienne-Jules Marey. He pioneered a lot of these early sequential methods, and some would say he invented cinema, but that's a different tale altogether.

Not unlike Edgerton's later investigations with the Xenon flash tube.

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 25, 2012

holmburgers said:
Actually this is the work of Etienne Jules-Marey...

Thanks for clarifying... Shows how educated I am on the matter.

The Decisive Moment

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