Kept Light

The term that symbolizes Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photography is at once elusive, mysterious, alluring, and quite possibly misunderstood; at least I have difficulty understanding it. I have read about his approach to photography, have seen many of his work in books, listened to one of the rare interviews that he granted, and still have been quite puzzled to reconcile his photographs and the “The Decisive Moment.” The difficulty I have is the way the idea is generally presented as HCB knowing when to release the shutter. Think about it for a moment, remember all his photographs that you have seen; what are the chances of him being that lucky all the time? The more I looked at his photographs and read about his life and work, the more I thought there must be a different way of seeing this idea of “the decisive moment.” [Read more...]