HENRI CARTIER - BRESSON
Henri Cartier - Bresson was a french street photographer who was extremely concerned with "The Decisive moment", meaning a moment in a photograph that has been captured after having waited for it or come across the photo by chance, not being set up or interfered with before he pressed the shutter, its also about capturing a specific moment in an event, knowing when too take the photo only moments before he would and trusting his instincts, a second before or after and the photo might not work. Too me this concept is actually very interesting and i think can produce some very nice photographs if done right, Bresson would frame the photo in his head before snapping it too ensure that the photo would have a chance at coming out well, looking for patterns in geometric shapes, lines and movement in objects to create the best photo possible, he would not just take photos of everything he saw. he would also scarcely edit and crop his photos avoiding it at all costs, he would frame the photo before taking so that he wouldn't need too crop, he beleived that if you have to edit a photo, its not a success, although he did crop a small few of his photos when he would have no choice.
Bresson was also one of the first early photographers to start using 35mm film for his photos.
Bresson was also one of the first early photographers to start using 35mm film for his photos.
GALLERY OF HIS PHOTOS
MY HENRI CARTIER - BRESSON RESPONSE
For my response I decided to leave the school to take photos instead of stay within the grounds because Bresson as a photographer mainly took street photography so I thought my response would be more accurate to his work if i moved to a more public and commercial area for some of the photos. I changed the cameras mode to monochrome because all of Bressons photos are taken in black and white. Whilst taking my photos I kept my eyes peeled for interesting shapes, patterns and geometric structures as Bresson would, I also took photos of people going about their daily lives, trying too capture interesting moments like a woman helping an old lady exit a car, a man opening up their shop for a day or even just people hanging out in their friends groups passing the time, almost like spying in and capturing small features too their lives.
CONTACT SHEETS FROM MY RESPONSE
-Pink lines show geometric patterns and shapes
-Green circles around a photo means i consider the photo a success
-Green dotted lines and shaded out areas mean a part of the photo I want too crop out
-Green circles around a photo means i consider the photo a success
-Green dotted lines and shaded out areas mean a part of the photo I want too crop out
contact sheet from bresson evaluation
(photography is an art of invention rather than invention)
Bresson has circled the two photos below on the contact sheet because these are the ones that he believed worked the best, which makes sense going by the indecisive moment which is what he believed in. Both of the photos are composed very well, and are actually taken in the exact same place as each other, so they both have the strong geometric shape of the whole in the wall and all of the rubble in the ground. This photo is made interesting because of its location and whats happening, for example loads of children playing in a war devastated or just destructed building would usually be an uncommon sight because of how unsafe it would be, however in these photos it looks completely mundane and normal. The fact that the faces of the kids all light up when they see the camera also makes the photos more interesting
Conclusion
Henri Cartier - Bresson is known as the the king of composition, and I would agree. I have learnt about the importance of always looking and being aware incase a photo opportunity pops up. Being able too frame a photo in your mind before snapping it, noticing geometric patters, shapes, surfaces, interesting events or any good photo opportunity at any time. Knowing that a crowd of people will turn too look at something at the same time, that someone will jump that puddle or walk up that set of stairs and knowing when these things will happen so that you can trust your instincts and take the photo at the exact right time.
NICK WAPLINGTON
Nick Waplingon is a British photographer who works out of New York City. He does not have a specific style or preference toward photography, because he is interested in everything and refuses to conform to the notion that a photographer has to have a certain style or focus. Waplington likes to spend his time painting and drawing as well as taking photographs and he likes to consider himself an artist instead of a photographer as he believes that photography is art just as much as a painting is. I really enjoy the way that Waplington photographs things in such an non generic way and style. For example his "Living Room" photographs that he took are just of normal people living out their normal lives and he manged to take photos of this and some how make it appealing by focusing on a small little topic within his images, weather it be a normal working class families children having fun or playing with the "decisive moment" he manages to make it appealing by continuously breaking conventions. Even as a young child when his photography teacher told him that he should stop taking photos in the way that he was, he disobeyed her and continued, and today the photos he took back then are some of his best works.