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Henri Cartier-Bresson [1908-2004] French
Rank: 101
Photographer


Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35 mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and conceived of photography as capturing a decisive moment. His work has influenced many photographers.

Art, Great



QuoteTagsRank
To take photographs means to recognize - simultaneously and within a fraction of a second - both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning. It is putting one's head, one's eye and one's heart on the same axis.
101
In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotiv. Great
102
Photography is an immediate reaction, drawing is a meditation.
103
To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event. Art
104
The photograph itself doesn't interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality.
105
The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box. Art
106
Memory is very important, the memory of each photo taken, flowing at the same speed as the event. During the work, you have to be sure that you haven't left any holes, that you've captured everything, because afterwards it will be too late.
107
We photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing, and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth can make them come back again. We cannot develop and print a memory.
108
To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.
109
During the work, you have to be sure that you haven't left any holes, that you've captured everything, because afterwards it will be too late.
110
Think about the photo before and after, never during. The secret is to take your time. You mustn't go too fast. The subject must forget about you. Then, however, you must be very quick.
111
Actually, I'm not all that interested in the subject of photography. Once the picture is in the box, I'm not all that interested in what happens next. Hunters, after all, aren't cooks.
112
The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt.
113
Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.
114
Above all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes.
115

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