Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Decisive Moment


One of the biggest influences in my photography is French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. In 1952, he published a body of work titled Images a la Sauvette which was translated in English to The Decisive Moment. Believing that "there is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment,"Cartier-Bresson applied this philosophy to his photography. He said "Photography is  simultaneously and instantaneously the recognition of a fact and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that express and signify that fact."

The above photo was taken last week at Hotel del Coronado. As we were walking up the stairs to the main entrance, I spotted this lovely couple waiting by the elevator. I paused for a brief second before turning around to get this captured. I love that they're both barefoot, he's leaning towards her for love and/or support, she's wearing her swim cap with sun visor over the top. This was my Decisive Moment.


The next few images are taken by Cartier-Bresson. Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, 1932


Au Bord de la Marne, 1938


Downtown, New York, 1947

6 comments:

Heather said...

Awesome Mandi - you have such an eye!

Kerrie said...

Love the pic! Such a story in that shot!

Melissa Bruning said...

I love this photo! You have such a talent. Any chance we could convince you to do your own photography book on Blurb? I'd want one.

KenshoStudio said...

I too love Cartier-Bresson. Good selections and really nice shot yourself, Amanda. A wonderful rendition of the style.

Thanks for sharing your talent!

Andy

lab said...

as usual, good photo. love the 1947 new york shot by cartier-bresson. never knew of him before now.

Ryan said...

Au Bord de la Marne looks like a good time. Maybe we could get some ripple and head down to the swamp under 440 and reenact with some of the folks there.