I am a huge admirer of Henri Cartier- Bresson. He is widely considered to be the godfather of street photography. What I admire most about his work is the almost poetic nature of his images.Cartier- Bresson had no problem with shooting images of people going about their daily lives and is best known for capturing what he described as "the decisive
moment".
The photograph above is a prime example of Cartier-Bresson's mastery of the art of street photography. It is brilliantly composed. With the exception of the vertical lines of the staircase handrail supports, almost all lines in the image lead the eye directly to the main subject. Notice that the lines of the edge of the staircase align very closely with the pathway line on the street. The curved line of the curbstones at the top of the frame serve to lead the eye to the cyclist as well as provide a further sense of the motion of the main subject. The subject itself is slightly blurred by the intentional use of a shutter speed that is just a bit too slow to freeze the action, thus further emphasizing the subject's motion. Cartier- Bresson's use of the golden ratio (the divine proportion) in the placement of his subject within the frame is the icing on the cake. I would say that the photo was carefully composed well before the subject appeared in the frame and, with perfect timing, was captured in precisely the spot intended for it. The "decisive moment"indeed!
Now back to my comparatively feeble attempts at the art of street photography. After all, it's all about me. It's my blog. They're my pictures. Haven't you heard? With the election of the Pumpkin Bumpkin in the States, narcissism is the new normal.
The one problem ( In this day and age, no one has problems anymore. Today people have "issues" or "challenges." Me? I stick to having good old fashioned "problems".) I have with street photography is the inclusion of people in my photos. I tend to find it a bit intrusive to photograph people without their knowledge or consent. Like most photographers, (and perhaps most people) I dislike having my photo taken and out of genuine human empathy, project that feeling to others. So what often happens is that my attempts at street photography tend to turn out as streetscapes devoid of humanity.
The above picture is a little better in that the table for two at least suggests humanity. But, what I'm really going for is something like this.
Or this;
Needless to say, the estate of the great Cartier-Bresson has nothing to worry about from me. However, I do find this street photography genre fascinating and I think I'll pursue it a bit more. We'll see where I go with it.
more later...
