Henri Cartier-Bresson Research Post 4

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Context
Henri Cartier-Bresson is a french photographer. He captured street photography and created the decisive moment. The decisive moment is all about capturing a picture at the right time to express meaning and manage to get a good photo. He wanted to express that our eye focuses on the amazing object and all the camera does is capture these great moments. Cartier-Bresson's work links to everyday activities because he documents people's lives but captures the most interesting and intense parts.


Photography 

In this image we can see women selling fish at a stall in a street. We can tell that this is located in France because of the writing on the shops behind. This shows the different ways in which people have to earn a living, these woman have to earn a living selling fish on the street. It can also show that people live harder lives than others, for example if nobody buys fish one day then these women have made no money in one day whereas people who work in offices make money every hour. It also links to Cartier-Bresson's decisive moment because he had to chose the right moment to take this image to capture it the way he has.

In this image we can see two women and two men sitting on a river bank eating and pouring what looks like wine/champagne. This shows the life of upper class people, we can tell that they are upper class and rich because of the way that they are dressed and the fact that they have a boat. The photo links to everyday activities because it shows how relaxed richer people's days are as they have to worry about nothing. It also shows Cartier-Bresson's decisive moment because he had to take this image at the right time to capture the image in the way that he did.

In this image we can see a little boy carrying two big bottles. In the background we can see little girls with admiring looks on their face. The little boy is looking proud, this can show how he is showing off to the girls because of the heavy bottles he is carrying. It links to everyday activities because he tries everyday to impress the girls and he has finally accomplished it. It also links to the decisive moment because Cartier-Bresson would've had to capture this image at the right time to grasp the boys and the girls expressions.

In this image we can see lots of children playing in rubble. This links to everyday activities because it shows what poorer children do to have fun. These children look like they are having a lot of fun, this shows that some children are forced to find ways to have fun without playing with toys. This image also shows the decisive moment because Cartier-Bresson would've had to capture this picture at the right time to show how much fun the children are having. 

Influence Summary
This photographer has influenced my work because of the decisive moment and the fact that I needed to take my images at the right time to capture the image that I wanted. Also, Cartier-Bresson focuses on street photography which is what influenced one of my shoots.

I took Cartier-Bresson's idea of taking pictures of people selling food on the street to capture this image. This photo also links to the decisive moment because I had to take this image at the right time to capture the woman filling up the bowl with food. It relates to Cartier-Bresson's image of the women selling fish because they both show how different people have to earn money, mainly poorer people. However, I didn't follow Cartier-Bresson's theme of black and white because I wanted to express more colour in my images.