Favorite Henri Cartier-Bresson Quotes

[ArthurDent]

I like this one, but there are so many from which to choose:

"Photography is not like painting. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. 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. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever."

Your favorite?

[atpaula]

I like this one, but there are so many from which to choose:

"Photography is not like painting. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. 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. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever."

Great one!
It reinforces my belief that composition/message within a picture is way more important than technical aspects.

[Jacques Pochoy]

"They ... asked me: 'How do you make your pictures?' I was puzzled ... I said, I don't know, it's not important." - Henri Cartier-Bresson

This one is maybe the one I like most ! 

[ArthurDent]

"They ... asked me: 'How do you make your pictures?' I was puzzled ... I said, I don't know, it's not important." - Henri Cartier-Bresson

This one is maybe the one I like most ! 

From what I've read, he didn't like darkroom work and would not allow his photographs to be cropped, always wanting a little unexposed film left on the edges to act as a black frame. Also, he shot almost all of his photographs in black and white. The mechanics of development were uninteresting to him and he did not want to do it himself or to engage in any darkroom enhancing of any of the elements of his work, or to have anyone else do it for him.

[Jacques Pochoy]

From what I've read, he didn't like darkroom work and would not allow his photographs to be cropped, always wanting a little unexposed film left on the edges to act as a black frame. Also, he shot almost all of his photographs in black and white. The mechanics of development were uninteresting to him and he did not want to do it himself or to engage in any darkroom enhancing of any of the elements of his work, or to have anyone else do it for him.

He was a bit worse then that ! With a very "Beaux-Arts" spirit (meaning jokes and such, making fun of interviewers...). Burning what he loved and vice-versa. He didn't really like people, for him they were props in his geometrical composition. Great man but a bit weird 

He did bring us to file our negatives trays of our enlargers to have the black limits of the negative, to show that we didn't crop... Spoiled a whole generation  My daughter made a thesis on his work

[ArthurDent]

Here is another I like- “A photograph is neither taken or seized by force. It offers itself up. It is the photo that takes you. One must not take photos.”

[BEZ]

"You just have to live and life will give you pictures" - Henri Cartier-Bresson    “Of course it’s all luck.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson


He was famous for not cropping his pictures. But his most famous photograph was heavily cropped. It is an interesting paradox?

[CS]

"You just have to live and life will give you pictures" - Henri Cartier-Bresson    “Of course it’s all luck.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson


He was famous for not cropping his pictures. But his most famous photograph was heavily cropped. It is an interesting paradox?

The photo world is full of people that for reasons known only to them, they put restrictions on themselves, and many of them want to put those restrictions on other photographers.

[Birna Rørslett]

The photo world is full of people that for reasons known only to them, they put restrictions on themselves, and many of them want to put those restrictions on other photographers.

The similar behaviour, unfortunately, is seen in many other areas of life.

While I strive to complete the image *in* camera  (mainly out of laziness because there will be less post processing required), I realise many images need further work later on. Thus it's about securing *raw* material for the final image.

[ArthurDent]

The similar behaviour, unfortunately, is seen in many other areas of life.

While I strive to complete the image *in* camera  (mainly out of laziness because there will be less post processing required), I realise many images need further work later on. Thus it's about securing *raw* material for the final image.

His view was quite different from yours. He said, “The picture is good or not from the moment it was caught in the camera.”

Your view is more akin to that of Ansel Adams-“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”

I'm more in line with your and Ansel's view, I think post processing has a profound influence on the impact of the final image. HCB was a wonderful photographer, but I wonder if his legacy might be far greater if he had become as much of a virtuoso in the darkroom as he was behind the camera.

[Birna Rørslett]

Actually I agree with HCB as well. No amount of later tweaking will save something not being of interest at the moment the shutter was tripped. In that sense images are "taken" not "made". However, what the camera can deliver might not be what we really want for the occasion thus the need to "make" the raw material into a final image.

[ArthurDent]

Actually I agree with HCB as well. No amount of later tweaking will save something not being of interest at the moment the shutter was tripped. In that sense images are "taken" not "made". However, what the camera can deliver might not be what we really want for the occasion thus the need to "make" the raw material into a final image.

I think we will have to agree to disagree,   I’ve seen many otherwise unexceptional images become quite interesting when innovative post processing is applied.

[Birna Rørslett]

Disagreement is fine with me. No problem at all.

[Ethan]

Bresson the  Decisive Moment is more the Decisive Con

The guy is a fake and a fraud who did not realize that few years later something called photo forensics has been developed to catch people like him and others namely Steve Maccurry - Robert Capa - Robert Doisneau and tons of others.

Decisive moment my .... When you shoot rapid fire to pick up the best shot as this famous HCB shot....
This ain't decisive but spray and pray!
















But hey. HCB does not stop here but copies situations made famous by other photographer introducing a so called twist namely the false Decisive Moment Con.
I appreciate some of you might be revolted but let your own eyes do the analysis and look deep into the details of Derriere la Gare St. Lazare.
A train station made famous by the paintings of Manet and Monet......




Manipulation in deleting elements and of course processing and CROPPING.
Original picture made by MM followed by HCB followed by Avedon.




Now who is copying from whom?

[BEZ]

Bresson the  Decisive Moment is more the Decisive Con
The guy is a fake and a fraud who did not realize that few years later something called photo forensics has been developed to catch people like him and others namely Steve Maccurry - Robert Capa - Robert Doisneau and tons of others.
Decisive moment my .... When you shoot rapid fire to pick up the best shot as this famous HCB shot....
This ain't decisive but spray and pray!
But hey. HCB does not stop here but copies situations made famous by other photographer introducing a so called twist namely the false Decisive Moment Con.
I appreciate some of you might be revolted but let your own eyes do the analysis and look deep into the details of Derriere la Gare St. Lazare.
A train station made famous by the paintings of Manet and Monet......
Manipulation in deleting elements and of course processing and CROPPING.
Original picture made by MM followed by HCB followed by Avedon.
Now who is copying from whom?

I cannot help thinking the green eyed monster seems to be clouding your thoughts Ethan.

And "spray and pray" with a Leica III, how does that work?  Your contact sheet example just shows a photographer working the scene.