One of my favorite photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson is of this little
boy carrying two bottles of wine under his arms, on Rue Mouffetard with the triumphant
grin of a champion. Henri Cartier-Bresson was a
master at taking photos of children in their natural playful state,
creating images that convey beautiful nostalgia to his viewers.
Children
are great subjects to shoot when it comes to street photography - in that they don’t mind being in front of the
camera, and often ignore it. Therefore you are able to capture their
true essence: playful, curious, and often mischievous.
When Henri Cartier-Bresson would talk about “The Decisive Moment” he
said sometimes it would be spontaneous but others times he had to be
patient and wait for it. Regardless he was very methodological when he
would go out and shoot, and would only keep his images if every element
of his image (people, background, framing, and composition) were
perfect.
When he shot on the streets, he would stay
as low-key and unobtrusive as possible. It is reported that he would cover
his chrome Leica in black tape and sometimes with a hankerchief to
make it less noticeable when he was out shooting. Most of the images
that he captured his subjects were oblivious of the camera, therefore
truly candid.
Although Cartier-Bresson shot with several different lenses
while on-assignment working for Magnum, he would only shoot with a 50mm
if he was shooting for himself. By being faithful to that lens for
decades, the camera truly became “an extension of his eye”.
No comments:
Post a Comment