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Henri Cartier-Bresson


andrew_viny

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Cartier-Bresson. You can't just drop half his name!

 

Leica IIIs and M3 (usually 50mm Elmar/Summicron) and later on the Leica point and shoot with the 40mm Summarit.

 

He just focussed (if he had the time) and shot, usually guessing/estimating exposure (as people did routinely back

then). His extraordinary skill was in seeing the shot either in advance or afterwards on the negative strip. He was able

to see interesting and witty connections between people and objects and their environments that most of us cannot -

until pointed out by him in his photos. I am not sure you can really be taught what he did - it is more a question of

creativity and artistic sensibility, rather than technique. He liked to be unobtrusive and took photos without impacting

his subjects - or at least that was his aim.

Robin Smith
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"Which model Leica did he use?" Different ones IIIc to M models.

 

"And what sort for techniques did he employ to capture such fleeting moments with so much to set on the camera before the shot?"

 

By being himself. Trained as a game hunter for construction crews in Africa in his youth, more trainign as an artist with in his early twenties, and then there is the genetic component of quick reaction times. He also was known to find a place where the background was visually interesting and then waiting for something interesting to happen. he dressed neatly and acted discreetly.

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The lens he used from its introduction in about 1953 till he stopped shooting proffesionally was the collapsible Summicron. Though others preferred the rigid Summicrons, wich had slightly different optics, he stuck with the collapsible one. And I believe he used an M4 from its introduction onwards.

 

He usually zone-focused and at f8 for sufficient depth to cover. So, as much as possible, he just raised the camera, shot and lowered it to keep it out of sight; using just his eyes mostly. He also black taped the camera to make it inconspicuous. Even the front of the lens was black, though he usually used a small, round hood.

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<i>He usually zone-focused and at f8 for sufficient depth to cover. So, as much as possible, he just raised the

camera, shot and lowered it to keep it out of sight; using just his eyes mostly.</i><P>

That methodology doesn't seem to be reflected in a majority of his photos that I've seen. If you examine his

photos, you'll see many with shallow depth of field, and you'll find that most have a carefully-composed,

relatively-formal composition.

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Are you sure he started with a Leica III? <a href="http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?LeicaIII.html~mainFrame">This</a> page indicates the III started production in 1933, whereas <a href="http://www.henricartierbresson.org/hcb/HCB_expo_en.htm">this</a> page indicates he acquired a Leica (doesn't say which model) in 1932.
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He started with bigger size cameras, but really took off with a Leica. He has used the M3 mainly since it came out -

actually one of his main lenses was the 50/1.5 Zeiss Sonnar adapted to the M mount. The basic trick he used was hard

work - he was a painter before becoming a photographer, so he knew the composition, he had an open mind and a warm

heart, BUT he also shot lots of film, repeatedly hunting for the "decisive moment". His photos are not resulting from luck,

but from a persistent anticipation and long moments of waiting for all the elements to align in the frame.

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"a warm heart"

 

Really? I have to say I have always thought HCB rather distant and aloof (many of his shots are ironic to my eye), if

not rather superior in his manner towards photography, although this is only based on what I have read and knowing

someone who met him. Certainly he tried not to engage with his subjects, something a "warm hearted" photographer

might well do.

 

He was perhaps more interested in painting particularly in the latter part of his life, when he stopped taking

photographs, but whether his painting is interesting I cannot say. I think the world seems to have ignored his painting

so far (not that that really means anything).

Robin Smith
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There's been a marvelous HCB calendar the last few years that is mining some of his lesser-known work -- many wonderful street scenes. His photos have a sense of composition and geometry absent in many other street works. I find the calendar at a local bookstore or at www.allposters.com.
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I have recently come across an article that indicates that his first camera was a Leica A with a 50mm summicron. In addition

it suggests that he used Leica point and shoots later on. The 40mm model. The article clams that he found photography

after training as a painter aswell as a game hunter. The skills learned from these trades (evasivness and composition)

influenced his photograph. Perhaps?

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There some videos about him on youtube. Just punch in Henri Cartier-Bresson. The most interesting for me is the one in 3 parts in french (even though my french is poor) where he talks to interviewers with his back to the camera. But they also show how he worked the street. He seems to be moving around rather slowly, kind of slow balletic movements, gently raising the camera to his eyes and then moving on.
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I had the same feeling about HCB as Robin but was touched by this poignant opening thought from his book "The

Mind's Eye":<br><br>

 

<i>'IN A WORLD that is buckling under the weight of profit-making, that is overrun by the destructive sirens of

Techno-science and the power-hunger of globalization - that new brand of slavery - beyond all that, Friendship

exists, Love exists.' (1998)</i><br><br>

 

Although not known for his landscapes, something about this one intrigues me:<br>

<B>Photo deleted. Per the photo.net Terms of Use, do not upload photos that are not yours.</b>

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I had neutral to negative views on HCB's work until very recently, when I was privileged to see many large prints, made for exhibition...the images are more significant than I'd imagined. Many images seem planned...a good thing...I don't think he was a "street shooter" in the sense of relying on spontaneous "captures."

 

...this in contrast to Bill Brandt, who I've admired since the 60s without properly understanding the intentional depth of his work. Recently, after seeing a large exhibition of his original prints, I better understand what he was about: I've concluded that his stature is greater than I'd imagined, and considerably above HCB's.

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Marek is right about the 50mm Sonnar f/1.5. Beaumont Newhall documented that in his autobiography. Also, I'm not so sure about the references to the "40mm point and shoot" Leica. I've seen photos of HCB shooting with a Leica CL, in perhaps the '70s, but he wasn't shooting seriously by then. "Point and shoot" might mislead people to thinking he shot with one of those cheap plastic things from the '90s.

 

And, as to the "warm-hearted" comment, he was indeed known as aloof to strangers and to some he knew well, but he was very much the humanist, interested in a world that dealt more kindly with the common man, quite far to the left in his politics. In this sense, the "warm-hearted" comment would be correct.

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One of my favorite all-time. Always looking, always shooting. <br>

His proof sheets do show him to have set up many of his iconic shots, at least the people... The practice seems to

have been common. Nonetheless, he's the first master at catching geometry on the fly. His portraits don't tend to

have the energy so many of his street shots do, but his best 20 is world-class historical art.

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