My photographer of choice is Henri Cartier-Bresson. Henri is believed to be the father of modern photojournalism and changed the view of “street photography” into a style that has influenced generations of photographers. Henri Cartier-Bresson is known for capturing the purest form of what ever he was taking, and making sure nothing was staged. For this reason I have chosen him; I have been inspired by his, “in the moment” pictures, and un-tweaked photographs.
Henri wasn’t a photographer right away; he was a French painter before he became fascinated by photography in 1930. His inspiration was Photojournalist Martin Munkacsi. Henri was amazed on how Munkacsi captured moments in the streets with a camera, he didn’t know that was possible. From that day on, Henri took his camera and went off into the street to snap some photos. “"The only thing which completely was an amazement to me and brought me to photography was the work of Munkacsi. When I saw the photograph of Munkacsi of the black kids running in a wave I couldn't believe such a thing could be caught with the camera. I said damn it, I took my camera and went out into the street.”-Henri Cartier-Bresson.
By using a Leica 35mm range finder camera with a regular 50mm lens, he captured the purest pictures. Henri barely used the flash on his camera because he wanted to be very secretive and crafty. Invisibility was his main goal, to capture pictures so that no one would be able to pose and be prepared. That way he captured the most natural photo.
He believed in composing his photographs in the viewfinder, not in the darkroom. He did this by having nearly all his photographs printed only at full-frame and completely free of any cropping or other darkroom manipulation. He proved this by not cropping out the first millimeter or so of the unexposed clear negative around the image area resulting, after printing, in a black border around the positive image.
Cartier-Bresson worked exclusively in black and white, other than a few unsuccessful attempts in colour. Although he loved snapping photos he hated the process of developing the photos, he was not interested in that part of the photography process.
 |
First picture Grilled satay by Saelan Wangsa Indonesia, Martapura Equipment: Pentax K10D A man who is preparing Satay, for his family and friends. This is captured in the moment when he is putting the food on the grill, it reminds me of one of Henri’s photos because of the “in the moment” feel. |
 |
Black and White by Ugurers This photo is amazing how the natural light gives t he effect of empty streets . The natural lines and architecture in the background give it a Henri Cartier-Bresson inspiration. |
 |
hell's mercenaries by Sorin Onisor Workers at the charcoal factory, somewhere in the center of Romania. You can tell the workers are tired by the angle of the camera and the natural lighting the photographer was able to capture. Also being invisible in this photo is the key just like Henri Cartier-Bresson. |
 |
By Dst zero Darrell This photo was taken on November 14,2008 in Centro Seville, Andalusia, ES, , using a Canon EOS 5D The steam in the air from the street market is just unbelievable. Looks as if Henri took this photo himself. |
 |
No regrets by Adi Popa This photo is one of my favorites, it is so pure and real. The man looks as if he has had a long day on the farm and is taking a break. The photographer however seems invisible. |
All these photos are inspired by Henri Cartier-Bresson's photos, they all have the invisibility feel and are in black and white. More and more photographers are being inspired by him with the natural non manipulated look.
References:
http://ugurers.deviantart.com/art/black-white-35288440
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7d7/3168369006/
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.PhotographerDetail_VPage&l1=0&pid=2K7O3R14T1LX&nm=Henri%20Cartier%2DBresson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cartier-Bresson
No comments:
Post a Comment