Henri Cartier – Bresson (1908-2004) A French photographer and founding member of the Magnum photos in 1947, who is most famous for creating the most highly debated concept in photography history known as, The Decisive Moment. Cartier – Bresson created The Decisive Moment in 1952 in a book called “La Sauvette” which, was translated by Dick Simon to an English title as the Decisive Moment. As Kim, E (2010) explains; “The decisive moment is the split second of genius and inspiration that a photographer had to capture a certain moment”. Cartier – Bresson believes that if you miss it – it’s gone forever, its all about timing and those fine details for example, eye contact. He believes you must look for moments to capture. Cartier – Bresson is obsessed with composition, form and the aesthetics of photography much different to Waplington who doesn’t believe in pre planning a ‘moment’ and that composition is of relevant detail as any image holds/tells a story hence why he believes Cartier – Bresson views are dated. Cartier – Bresson most famous image associated with the Decisive moment is the image of behind the Gare Saint – Lazare In Paris 1932 (please see below). This is a perfect example of right place, right time to get the boy elevated in the air jumping the puddle something which Cartier – Bresson puts down to luck as he couldn’t see through his view finder (O’Hagan, S (2014).
Matt Stuart – (1974) A british photographer who has been focussing on street photography for the past twenty years mostly based around London. Stuarts work is inspired like many others by Henri Cartier Bresson but he has own style which, includes humour and colour. I find his images fascinating and influential, hence why I wanted to add him into my research towards my assignment. In the words of Matt Stuart: Buy a good pair of comfortable shoes, have a camera around your neck at all times, keep your elbows in, be patient, optimistic and don’t forget to smile (Stuart, M 2018). Stuart was inspired after being gifted from his father an aperture monograph by Robert Frank and a photobook by Henri Cartier Bresson his love for photography began at age 22 (Strecker, A 2010).
David Sark – A Sydney based photographer who has a background in the subjects visual communications and graphic design. Sark has written some interesting articles based around street photography and the indecisive moment. He explains the indecisive moment as “process of observing a scenario and being prepared or even pre-empting when to take the photo in order to capture the moment that best tells the story of what is taking place” (Sark, D 2018). When Sark heads out to do his street photography he doesn’t usually just take one shot of this particular moment he tends to use the burst mode and take 3-4 shots at any one time. This allows for subtle differences to be captured even though they are of the same image. Even though they are matters apart Sark says: they have their own feel. Sark has some interesting tips on street photography which would be useful for my assignment three. He says that street photography is about capturing the unplanned and unexpected moment. He would go out and look for those unique characters and find a scene that he thinks would take good photos and often it is about waiting for the right person to enter that frame to make that perfect photo. Sarks other tips on street photography would be to steer away from “phone zombies” – its much more interesting to get photos of peoples facial expressions, gestures and the finer details rather than just someone looking at their phone zoning out from the world. Also, to try and shoot at different times of the day. I have chosen to show this example of David Sarks street photography below, I think it leaves so many questions unanswered. Is it a business man off to work early in the morning? Is it a business man finishing work late at night? Let your mind imagine its own story.
Garry Winogrand
Garry Winogrand (1928-1984) An American based street photographer who was famous for identifying America’s social issues and lifestyle. Winogrand was known for his images that gave out the message “seeing life as it was” and had become a master of capturing the perfect candid moment, or as Henri Cartier – Bresson would call it “the decisive moment”. Winogrand is different to Cartier Bresson though as he has veered away from the ‘perfect picture’ and following the photography rules. Instead, Winogrand is known for his tilted, poorly composed images and is said to have stepped away from the generic rules of photography and pushed the boundaries. He hopes that in future generations they follow his lead in creating your own rules and ways of capturing images. Winogrand was often seen walking down the streets of New York snapping away with his camera held away from his eye. (The Art Story 2017).
Nick Waplington – (1965) A British ‘artist’. Waplington does not describe himself as a photographer as he is interested in everything . He is actually a painter but predominately his work is photogenic. Waplington is famous for writing the book the “Indecisive memento” written in contrast to Henri Cartier – Bresson’s book The Decisive Moment. Within this book Waplington states some useful facts. when Waplington sets out to take his images he does not pre visualise what he is going to take instead he goes with an idea and slowly this evolves as he begins capturing scenes. He says you can photograph anything and it can hold a sense of resonance. In Waplington’s opinion the Cartier – Bresson approach on photography is dated and that given the more abstract and unique photographers that are becoming more known at this day and age new rules are being created (photopedagogy NDG).
References:
Kim, E (NDG) Debunking the ‘Myth of the Decisive Moment’ https://erickimphotography.com/blog/2014/05/23/debunking-the-myth-of-the-decisive-moment/ (Date accessed: 24/08/2019).
O’Hagans, S (2014) Cartier – Bressons classic is back – but his Decisive moment has passed https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/dec/23/henri-cartier-bresson-the-decisive-moment-reissued-photography (Date accessed: 24/08/2019).
Photopedagogy (ND) The (in)decisive moment https://www.photopedagogy.com/the-indecisive-moment.html# (Date Accessed: 24/08/2019).
Sark, D (2018) The indecisive moment. https://www.davidsark.com/home/the-indecisive-moment (Date accessed: 24/08/2019).
Strecker, A (2010) In search of brilliant moments: street photography’s heightened existence https://www.lensculture.com/articles/matt-stuart-in-search-of-brilliant-moments-street-photography-s-heightened-existence (Date Accessed: 24/08/2019).
Stuart, M (NDG) About me http://www.mattstuart.com/about (Date accessed: 24/08/2019).
The Art Story (2017) Important art by Garry Winogrand https://www.theartstory.org/artist/winogrand-garry/ (Date accessed: 24/08/2019).
Heather Wade OCA Blog 