12 mind-blowing quotes from Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson was an extraordinary photographer who revolutionized photojournalism and street photography in the 20th century.
He was born in France in 1908 and began his artistic career as a painter before transitioning to photography in the 1930s.
Cartier-Bresson's photographic technique was all about capturing the perfect moment, which he called the "decisive moment."
He had an incredible ability to take photos that were full of emotion and meaning, where all the elements of a scene come together in a powerful way.
He often used a small Leica camera, allowing him to blend into the surroundings and capture candid moments without interrupting the scene.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Cartier-Bresson traveled extensively across Europe and the US, capturing some of the most significant moments of that era.
His photos ranged from everyday life scenes to notable people like artists and political leaders.
His work was featured in popular magazines such as Life and Harper's Bazaar.
He published influential books like "Images à la sauvette" (1952), later translated to "The Decisive Moment."
Cartier-Bresson was a co-founder of Magnum Photos, a cooperative agency that was created to support photojournalists.
So here are 12 powerful takeaways from his work and philosophy of a lifetime:
1. "The Decisive Moment"
Cartier-Bresson believed that capturing the perfect moment in a photograph was a matter of patience and timing.
2. "Photography is an immediate reaction, drawing is a meditation"
He saw photography as a spontaneous art form, in contrast to drawing which is a more deliberate and meditative process.
3. "Photography is nothing--it's life that interests me"
He believed that photography was merely a tool to capture and express the world around us.
4. "To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality"
Cartier-Bresson believed that capturing the moment required complete concentration and focus.
5. "The photograph itself doesn't interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality."
He believed that photographs were just a small representation of the world, and that they could never capture the full experience of life.
6. "Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst"
Cartier-Bresson believed that practice and experimentation were crucial for photographers to improve their craft.
7. "Photography appears to be an easy activity; in fact, it is a varied and ambiguous process in which the only common denominator among its practitioners is in the instrument"
He recognized that photography could be approached in many different ways.
8. "To photograph: it is to put on the same line of sight the head, the eye, and the heart."
Cartier-Bresson believed that photography required not just technical skill, but also empathy and emotional connection with the subject.
9. "The photographer must be absorbent--like a blotter, allow himself to be permeated by the poetic moment...his technique should be like an animal function...he should act automatically."
He believed that photographers needed to be fully immersed in the moment.
10. "Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera."
He believed that intuition and a creative eye were more important than the camera or technical skills.
11. "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept"
He believed that technical perfection was not the most important aspect of photography, and that imperfection and spontaneity were often more interesting.
12. "It is through living that we discover ourselves, at the same time as we discover the world around us."
Henri Cartier-Bresson believed photos helped us learn about the world and ourselves.
He took pictures until he died at 95.
Photographers worldwide still find his work inspiring.
Don’t you?📷
Follow me on Twitter (photocultivator) for weekly photography inspiration.
I’ll speak to you again next week.
Until then, happy shooting! 📷
Hakan.