iamskye Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 I'm getting tired of waiting for The Decisive Moment to come in at my locallibrary. Does anyone have the text of the famous essay/foreword for me to readin the meantime? Skye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sknowles Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 <p>Is this the Henri Catier-Bresson <a href="http://www.efotobooks.com/cartier- bresson/decisive-moment.html">essay</a> you want? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshschutz Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 I do not believe that is the essay from the book. I would just hope onto amazon.com and purchase it. I have even found it at Borders or Barnes and Noble. It is a wonderful book, and worth it to own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesmck Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 An absolute steal at $950! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sknowles Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 <p>Sorry about that. Alibris has three copies <a href="http://www.alibris.com/booksearch? S=R&qwork=1537308&qsort=p&siteID=Pw2LQAj_zJk- axayNojhmrDZwScFrgfUEw">available</a> from $790 to $2,000. I doubt your local library will ever consider buying a copy for a few people. I could only find <a href="http://efotobooks.com/cartier-bresson/decisive-moment.html">this version</a> on-line and the accompanying introduction. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamskye Posted January 14, 2008 Author Share Posted January 14, 2008 The library has a copy (art reference, not for checkout) but its at another branch right now. Oh well, I'll just wait. Even if I had that kind of money I'd be spending it on camera gear, lab work, or travel, not a book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clive1 Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 <i>I'm getting tired of waiting for The Decisive Moment to come in at my local library.</i> <P><BR>That's a good line! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orvillerobertson Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Scott, the online version is a great find. Many thanks. I've never actually seen the book before myself except as a cover image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bds1 Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 I'm amazed it hasn't been reprinted, it's considered one of the most important books about photography. The Americans is being reprinted this year so if anyone hasn't got a copy of that now's your chance. What I really want is a copy of Klein's new york for a reasonable price, is that too much to ask...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshschutz Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 I'm pretty sure it has been reprinted. I got a copy of it at borders for $20. The copy that I have is printed by Aperture. I'm pretty sure it's the same book. Its called the decisive monent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesmck Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Aperture publishes only HCB's "The Mind's Eye" and a HCB issue of their "Masters of Photography" series. You got a real bargain if you got "The Decisive Moment" for $20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmnop Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 After a few seconds of poking around I found the forward to the book. http://www.e-photobooks.com/cartier-bresson/decisive-moment.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmnop Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Sorry about that, looks this is what Scott found too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Bresson.. "Manufactured or staged photography does not concern me. And if I make a judgment it can only be on a psychological or sociological level. There are those who take photographs arranged beforehand and those who go out to discover the image and seize it. For me, the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which --- in visual terms --- questions and decides simultaneously. In order to give a meaning to the world, one has to feel oneself involved in what he frames through the viewfinder. This attitude requires concentration, a discipline of mind, sensitivity, and a sense of geometry. It is by great economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression. One must always take photos with the greatest respect for the subject and for oneself. To take photographs is to hold one's breath when all faculties converge in the face of fleeing reality. It is at that moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy. 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. As far as I am concerned, taking photographs is a means of understanding which cannot be separated from other means of visual expression. It is a way of shouting, of freeing oneself, not of proving or asserting one's own originality. It is a way of life." - Henri Cartier-Bresson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmnop Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Robert, how 'bout this one: "I had just discovered the Leica. It became the extension of my eye, and I have never been separated from it since I found it. I prowled the streets all day, feeling very strung-up and ready to pounce, determined to "trap" life--to preserve life in the act of living. Above all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph. . . "--Bresson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliapannell Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Hello ! If anyone happens to have a copy of the The Decisive Moment book, I would be most grateful to know the page number the text starts on. I have checked the online version that has been provided here but alas! there are no page numbers and as i am referencing the text i really need to know the page numbers.. thanks in advance if you can help me out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael s. Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 BDS said: << ... The Americans is being reprinted this year so if anyone hasn't got a copy of that now's your chance. ... >> Thanks, Brian. I didn't know that until just now. I've checked "The Americans" out of my local library so many times it's gotten to the point that when I walk in, they say: "Hello, Michael. Will you have the usual ?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 http://www.luminous-lint.com/__sw.php?action=ACT_PSTORE&p1=PSSB&p2=3908247675 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m_johnson Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 http://www.corcoran.org/exhibitions/previous_results.asp?Exhib_ID=61 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesmck Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 The essay that serves as the introduction to the online "Decisive Moment" cited above is reprinted on pp. 20-43 of "The Mind's Eye" (Aperture) and on pp. 12-22 of "The Education of a Photographer" (Traub et al, editors). Is this essay in the hardcopy version of "The Decisive Moment"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bds1 Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Robert Frank's pictures from Wales were taken a mile away from where my grandfather was working as a miner, I was gutted that he didn't go to their village... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB_Gallery Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 <p>I got my copy of The Decisive Moment today, while the images are stunning and the "Home-made" feel of it all splendid, the writing is amazing. I am going to photocopy it for my self so I can refer to it on my laptop but I would like to know if there is an online version that people can refer to as I do not want to engage in copyright infringement.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesmck Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 <p>I think you want http://www.efotobooks.com/cartier-bresson/decisive-moment.html, as mentioned earlier.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marjolein_jacobs Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 <p>It was indeed available at that link (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.efotobooks.com/cartier-bresson/decisive-moment.html" target="_blank">http://www.efotobooks.com/cartier-bresson/decisive-moment.html</a>), but unfortunately is not available anymore. Why, I don't know (copyright issues maybe?). Is there someone with another suggestion to find the introduction text online? Thanks. </p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesmck Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 <p>The photos are still available here: http://tinyurl.com/mjuxap. Unfortunately, the <em>Introduction</em> is not. As I mentioned in an earlier message, I believe that the text of the <em>Introduction</em> is the same as that reprinted on pp. 20-43 of "The Mind's Eye" (Aperture) and on pp. 12-22 of "The Education of a Photographer" (Traub et al, editors).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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