Virtual Essay

Option 2

Over decades there have been photographers with different styles. For this assignment the photographer that I would be focusing on would be Henri Cartier-Bresson. The reason that I chose Cartier-Bresson was because I really enjoyed his work and style-being invisible.
Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer who was considered to be the father of modern photojournalism. He also helped develop “street photography” or “real life reportage”. Cartier-Bresson didn’t start off doing photography in the first place; in fact, he was a gifted painter. He only became inspired after viewing a photograph in 1930 by Hungarian photojournalist Martin Munkacsi which showed three naked young African boys. Cartier-Bresson said once, “"The only thing which completely was 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.” He then stopped painting and took photography seriously and acquired the Leica camera with 50 mm lens which became his partner for many years.
Henri used Leica 35 mm range finder cameras equipped with normal 50 mm lenses or occasionally a wide angle for landscapes. He wrapped black tape around the camera’s chrome body to make it less conspicuous. With fast black and white films and sharp lenses, Henri was able to photograph almost by stealth to capture the events. He also never photographed with flash as he saw it as “[i]mpolite...like coming to a concert with a pistol in your hand."
After understanding some of Cartier-Bresson’s past and his style of photography, I went online and searched for similar photographs as Henri’s. Keeping in mind events, invisible and message; I found five photographs and would explain in this assignment why these photographs reminds me of Henri’s work.

Picture 1




Photographer: Kirstin Springer

Source:http://users.ipfw.edu/virtue/intl/Photo%20Contest/Photo%20Contest%20Winners%2007/39.e.%20Leanna%20on%20the%20Louvre%20fountain%20black%20and%20white.jpg
Picture 1, showed a woman lying on the edge of a well and people that sitting at the far back. This photograph reminds me of Cartier-Bresson’s work because people in the picture weren’t alerted and the photographer captured the moment or events of this currently place. As Cartier-Bresson started off from painting we could also see many of his work resemblance of painting, and as for this picture also gave that feeling to me. The following is a picture of Cartier-Bresson’s that is similar to picture 1.



Photographer: Henri Cartier-Bresson

Source:http://edizioni.fotografiafestival.it/archivio/artwork_img/Henri-Cartier-Bresson-Diep.jpg

Picture 2






Photographer: Loren Zeman

Source:http://users.ipfw.edu/virtue/intl/Photo%20Contest/Photo%20Contest%20Winners%2007/45.a.%20arms%20of%20the%20old%20mother.JPG
Picture 2 is an old woman holding on to her daughter/grand-daughter. This was a quick shot that came to the photographer mind, as the photographer, Zeman, captured the moments of a tired little girl wrapped around by this old lady and we could tell her age by looking at her hand and face. It captured an event that occurred at this part of the world and looking at this photograph it gave me this really warm and gentle feeling.

Picture 3



Photographer: Jon Akinson

Source:http://www.jon-atkinson.com/Large%20Images/La_Black_And_White1.jpg

Picture 3, we can see a little child sitting on the grass staring at the sky in a dirty shirt. The photographer captured the moment of a child looking lost and uncertain. This was accomplished by being invisible and knowing the right time to hit the shooting button.

Picture 4



Photographer: Ryan

Source:http://thewrittenroad.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/black-and-white-beach.jpg

Picture 4 is of a family of three walking on the beach on a sunny day. The photographer was invisible to the characters and captured this moment of happiness of this happy little kid holding on to the father and mother’s hand. He also made use of the beautiful site and turned it into a picture which could also be viewed as a painting.


Picture 5



Photographer: Patrick Scott Vickers

Source:http://www.scotrick.com/00_assets/00_blog/images/black%20and%20white%20tree%20by%20patrick%20scott%20vickers.jpg

Picture 5, the capture of this tree that lost almost all of the leafs. Spreading this very deem or sad feeling from it; the photographer has captured the message that the tree was giving.


We could see that no matter who the photographer was, they're always trying to capture a moment or events and trying to send us the viewers a message. As for these photographs that I had chosen, we could see some resemblance of Cartier-Bresson’s style