Henri Cartier Bresson - The father of modern photojournalism

I had never heard of Henri Cartier Bresson until Steve told me to look at his work as part of the research we have to do for the course.
When I started to look I saw that Bresson was a photographer that hated to be photographed - knowing how that feels - I read on..........

Pictures, regardless of how they are created and recreated, are intended to be looked at. This brings to the forefront not the technology of imaging, which of course is important, but rather what we might call the eyenology (seeing). - Henri Cartier-Bresson

Cartier - Bresson was a French photographer born in 1908.  He worked as a photojournalist, taking photos in their actual state with very little cropping  - trapping life as it happened.

The feeling I get with this photo is Cartier-Bresson was just walking down the stairs and came across the children sitting playing cards.  While I look at some of his pictures and think - 'was that set up?' I don't believe this photograph was.  The woman in the background is walking by - oblivious to the young gamblers sitting above her, who are taking their game very seriously.  Cartier - Bresson has used the stair well to frame the photograph which is part of his natural way of taking pictures.

The shapes and perspective on this photograph hold my eye with the focal point being the lady half way up the steps.  I like the straight lines of the buildings along with the contrasting shapes and patterns of the steps.  The branches against the wall add another point of interest with the shape and patterns they create.

I think this photograph captures this completely:
 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. - Henri Cartier-Bresson

This is an image taken by Cartier - Bresson of Mahatma Gandhi shortly before his assassination.  Bresson has captured the light brilliantly, showing Ghandi as a calm serene figure.  It was his photos of Ghandi's funeral that gave him international acclaim.

This photo was taken is 1972 and shows so many aspects.  A good composition of a family that still looked to be in the early 60's but with a modern car and a medieval monastery set against mountains with the clouds rolling over.  So much light and tonal range and also managing to capture the reflection of the little boy on the bonnet of the car. Lots of shapes in the foreground with the lines of the monastery and curves of the mountains make this a well composed shot.

Ref: http://www.henricartierbresson.org/index_en.htm

Ref: http://www.photoquotes.com/ShowQuotes.aspx?id=98&name=Cartier-Bresson,Henri

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cartier-Bresson

Ref: http://www.photo-seminars.com/Fame/bresson.htm