I promise I'll go back to the movie reviews next week. I just got a little tired of the old movies for a bit, but I haven't given up, yet. This week I'm gonna talk about something that might not be for everyone, but it's my blog so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you didn't read my "about me" post, you probably don't know I'm into photography. I've been into it ever since I can remember, since both my parents are photographers. I remember countless hours spent in studios with them and my sister, and even more hours helping in our darkroom afterwards.
Like every photographer (or amateur, in my case), I look up to loads of people. And I've decided I wanna talk about these inspirations, as a way of understanding their work and motivating me to get my camera and my lazy self out of the house more often.
I couldn't have picked anyone other than Henri Cartier-Bresson, the father of street photography and modern photojournalism, to start off this -possible- series of posts.
this guy right here
Henri was born in France back in 1908. He was a painter at first, and only started photographing in the 1930's. He was taken as a prisoner of war in 1940, but he managed to escape on his third attempt in 1943. And in 1945 he was there to photograph the liberation of Paris, with Robert Capa.
France, Paris. August 25, 1944. Near the Opera, German officers taken prisoner at the nearby Kommandantur.
Cartier-Bresson covered many important historical events, like Gandhi's funeral in 1948 and the end of the Chinese Civil War, in 1949.
INDIA. Delhi. Birla House. 1948. GANDHI dictates a message, just before breaking his fast.
CHINA. Jiangsu. Nankin. April 1949.
He photographed with a 35mm Leica, always black and white.
Last year I decided to try some film photography out of curiosity, and any Leica became my dream camera for obvious reasons.
Island of Siphnos. Cyclades, Greece. 1961
The Berlin wall. West Berlin, West Germany. 1962
One of Cartier-Bresson's greatest legacies is his knowledge and understanding of composition. He was awarded 10 international prizes during his life.
In a train. Romania. 1975.
He was a fan of candid pictures and waiting for the perfect opportunity to press the shutter (he called it "decisive moment"), even though he's also famous for his posed portraits.
Writer Truman Capote. New Orleans, Louisiana. 1947
Simone de Beauvoir. Paris, France. 1947
I've never really grasped exactly why I love his work so much. I'm not even a street photographer because I haven't stepped out of my comfort zone, and yet I find myself admiring his pictures every once in a while.
I'm always intrigued about how Cartier-Bresson threads the line between street photography and photojournalism, and how time might transform an ordinary picture into something historically relevant.
Elementary school. Moscow, USSR. 1954.
I'll end this post by linking The Decisive Moment, a short documentary narrated by Cartier-Bresson himself.
If photography interests you in any way, watch it, it's pure art.
Disclaimer: all his pictures have their original captions, and were taken from Magnum Photos (an international photographic cooperative that Cartier-Bresson co-founded).
Even though I know next to nothing about photography, this post was a good read. All the pictures you've posted here kind of give me the sense that there's a real meaningful human story behind each one of them, which I figure is a sign of good photography :D
Do you have any particular favourite picture from Cartier-Bresson?
Yes! I always think that a photographer's done their job if they make generally uninterested people actually stop and appreciate a picture :)
Hmmm, favourite picture is a tough question, cause it's always changing :D. I'd say the "Europeans" book has some of his best work, but if I had to pick just one I'd go with "In the train. Romania 1975" - which I included on the post :)
I don't know that much about photography even though I've had several courses of it in the past. But Cartier-Bresson has been mentioned a lot in art schools of course. I really enjoy his work. But one of my favourite photographers is Pentti Sammallahti. At some point he was part of an exhibition where Cartier-Bresson had chosen 100 of his favourite photographers.
Even though I know next to nothing about photography, this post was a good read. All the pictures you've posted here kind of give me the sense that there's a real meaningful human story behind each one of them, which I figure is a sign of good photography :D
ReplyDeleteDo you have any particular favourite picture from Cartier-Bresson?
Yes! I always think that a photographer's done their job if they make generally uninterested people actually stop and appreciate a picture :)
DeleteHmmm, favourite picture is a tough question, cause it's always changing :D. I'd say the "Europeans" book has some of his best work, but if I had to pick just one I'd go with "In the train. Romania 1975" - which I included on the post :)
I don't know that much about photography even though I've had several courses of it in the past. But Cartier-Bresson has been mentioned a lot in art schools of course. I really enjoy his work. But one of my favourite photographers is Pentti Sammallahti. At some point he was part of an exhibition where Cartier-Bresson had chosen 100 of his favourite photographers.
ReplyDeleteuuh interesting! I've never heard about Pentti, but I'll do some research :D If he's got Cartier-Bresson's approval then he must be good >.<
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