How about the photo of the black and white dogs mating on the sidewalk? Does anyone suppose he staged that? Obviously no one here knows if he staged his work or not.

-- jeff (debontekou@yahoo.com), March 18, 2002

Answers

I don't believe that HC-B staged any of his photographs. His writing clearly indicates that he has no interest in staged photographs, and there is no authenticated record of anyone "catching" him doing so. On the contrary, people who have seen his contact sheets report that they show him zeroing in on the final composition. (If you think that HC-B may have been an asshole, you should read the Jim Hughes Biography of Gene Smith.)

-- Mitch (bmitch@comcast.net), March 18, 2002.

people who have seen his contact sheets report that they show him zeroing in on the final composition

Apparently in his glory-days, HCB would burn through film like there was no tomorrow. click-click-click-click just to get one good shot. Makes you wonder if this "decisive moment" business was just marketing. :?)

-- Andrew Nemeth (azn@nemeng.com), March 18, 2002.

The "decisive moment" likely came while he was scanning his contact sheets as much as it came while shooting.

-- Douglas Kinnear (douglas.kinnear@colostate.edu), March 18, 2002.

No, it's not marketing. It's using the camera as a sketchpad, circling the subject, so to speak, and selecting the best frame(s) after the fact. Yet, each frame is exposed intelligently, seeking to narrow in on the essense of the subject, not machine-gunning as with a modern motor-driven camera exposing film almost at random.

If you think this is easy, try to get results like HC-B's. If you want to be a one-shot photographer, get a 4x5.

-- Dave Jenkins (djphoto@vol.com), March 18, 2002.

"people who have seen his contact sheets report that they show him zeroing in on the final composition"

who saw the contact sheets? I'm asking, it's not ironic or something. I know that Bresson is very strict about showing contacts and stuff, even the people at Magnum don't have the chance to review them Oh, and he threw away most of his Thirties work after the war, he kept only the negs that could fit in a round tin cookie box. The debate on the supposedly staged shots was born exactly because Bresson doesn't really show the stuff.

-- matteo (matteo1970@fish.co.jp), March 18, 2002.

For an interesting article concerning "staged shots" see the current Aperature article re: Capa's spanish civil war shot of the falling soldier.

-- Brooks (bvonarx@comcast.net), March 18, 2002.

Don't forget that the "decisive moment" is his American publisher's re-wording of "images a la sauvette": images on the run.

-- Preston Merchant (merchant@speakeasy.org), March 18, 2002.

I remember reading somewhere that Eve Arnold said that the most dissapointing moment in her life was seeing HCB's & Capa's contact sheets and seeing badly designed images until HCB pointed out to her that 'history doesn't design well either'(Magnum - Russell Miller)

My opinion is that even if you don't stage a photograph you do (if you have time on your side) perfect it. In this day of instant media the editing process of history has become less important. At the height of HCB, Capa, Smith et al the photo story had the benefit of a long and careful editing process thus ensuring that the message or story was given precisly.

Sometimes you get the picture in one shot, sometimes it can take a bit of work. HCB regards the Leica as a tool not a label, he sketches by taking photos in the same way he would use pencil and paper and THROW away sketches he didn't like.

-- Philip Woodcock (phil@pushbar.demon.co.uk), March 18, 2002.

Preston, he also used many times the expression "instants decisifs".

-- Roger (roger@photo.net), March 18, 2002.

Brooks - is there a link available for that Aperture article you're referring to?

Thx

-- Jay Bee (JBee193@aol.com), March 18, 2002.

He uses no tricks, no formulas, no gimmicks, without tampering with either the people or the events. He never poses. He never arranges. If observed, he instantly breaks off action. He adds no photographic lighting, but uses light exactly as he finds it. In effect, he is the theoretically ideal photographer who sees without being seen, records without impinging on his subjects. Schwalberg, Bob, Cartier-Bessson Today, Popular Photography, May 1967.

-- Mitch (bmitch@comcast.net), March 18, 2002.

This is as close as I can get you as the article is not on-line, good luck!

BVA

-- Brooks (Bvonarx@comcast.net), March 18, 2002.

Oops, that label should read Aperature Magazine Issue #166

-- Brooks (Bvonarx@comcast.net), March 18, 2002.

I think HCB got on board with the phrase "decisive moment" (in English or French) after it caught on in the US. It's not that the phrase isn't descriptive of or appropriate to his philosophy and style--it's just that it came to him somewhat by accident.

-- Preston Merchant (merchant@speakeasy.org), March 18, 2002.

I did not think of this when I posted the original question, but in the book "Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Artless Art" (weighty tome indeed...), the author, Jean-Pierre Montier says, "As a stealer of fire, the photographer makes a career out of always remaining invisible, or at least, like a thief at the fair, of not being spotted while he pilfers."

-- jeff (debontekou@yahoo.com), March 18, 2002.

I personally believe HCB staged most of his photographs. His "decisive moment" was a marketing ploy. I do like some of his photos but I think there are many other photographers out there who are consistently better at their profession, for example Edouard Boubat. What exactly is it about HCB that people love so much? Is it his arrogance? Comments welcome.

-- John Alfred Tropiano (jat18@psu.edu), March 18, 2002.

How much film is exposed..?Does it really matter.National geographic sends out photographers with truck loads of film and print about 10 per story.Pete Turner kept like 96photos of his 1st Africa trip,out of like 10,000exposures.HCB did an essay on Japan,which i saw in USCamera many years ago.In 3+ months he shot about 300rolls.Thats `~100 per month,say 3 per day....that is not motor-wind photography!I try to shoot less but sometimes like yesterday,@ St Patricks Day parade here in mind freezing Toronto,i shot about 5~8 frames of a kid with Irish flag foreground and marchers in the background.Each shot was framed,new vitas kept opening up..In about 2 hours,before and during parade shot 3 rolls.Stopped as out of film....It seems there is a growing dislike and hate for this great artist.NO tricks,no umbrella flash,no retouchers,digital manipulations...A basic Leica,50mm sometimes the 35 and occassionally the 90mm.The difference in concept is that he is a great craftsman,knowlegeable about art/paintings,pursuer of the human condition,and above all the definitive photographer FOR ME!Go really look at his photos,choose one try to read it!The women praying in the Himalayas.....think of the era,the meaning and relevence to to-days news.Next on the hate list will be Ansel Adams,too pure.Unfair advantage as the Creator asked him to record the Earth before the people arrived...

-- jason gold (leeu72@hotmail.com), March 18, 2002.

I love HCB's pictures. What I'm still trying to get a handle on is his technique for getting people to act natural in front of the camera. I simply don't believe HCB was strictly a stealth photographer. He himself said how important it is to get to know your subject. People had to know he was taking their picture. If he's a genius, part of it may lie in his ability to get people to just keep on doing what they were doing while he snapped a few shots.

I don't believe his shots were "staged" in this sense: I don't think, for example, that he thought "wouldn't it be great to take a picture of a child holding two wine bottles." However, I think it's quite possible he saw the boy with the wine bottles and asked him to run past him. Staged? Re-enacted? Whatever, it is a little different from what everyone has read about his technique. In short, I just don't think you can believe everything you read about famous people.

I still wish I could take pictures half as good as his, regardless of his technique.

Dennis

-- Dennis Couvillion (couvilaw@aol.com), March 18, 2002.

I second the yawn. Let's leave old HBC alone. It can be argued that all photogrpahers will stage a photo or two in their careers, and if so, who cares? As long as he isn't harming anyone, and people enjoy the shot, I don't see and problem. Plus you'll never really know will you?

Speculation and assumption are all time killers and will get us knowwhere (bad spelling)?.........or maybe back to the previous threads? Let's stop while we're ahead now.

-- Kristian (leicashot@hotmail.com), March 18, 2002.

What I'm still trying to get a handle on is his technique for getting people to act natural in front of the camera

Don't forget that the world has become much more hostile and paranoid towards "street photographers" than it was in HCB's heyday

For example, in France you will get yelled at now if you try to take the kinds of photos HCB et. al. did back 40 years ago. In parts of Sydney, hell you'd get beaten up! Wish it was otherwise, but it's a fact of life now. Candid "street" photography has now become a dangerous hobby. Mind you, this is what makes it for me so interesting and so much fun! :?)

-- Andrew Nemeth (azn@nemeng.com), March 18, 2002.

As a young photographer I heard of HCB and wondered at the awe with which he was talked about by other photographers. I looked at some of his pictures and quite honestly I wasn't that impressed. They all seemed cold and for all their seeming spontaneity there was a staged quallity to them that was at odds with HCB's own words regarding his work and photography in general. As for HCB himself, have you ever read any interviews he has given or any of his thoughts about photography or art? What pompouse bullshit. HCB is so full of himself. He has an inflated sense of his own influence and talent. He was one of the more "artistically" inclined Magnum photographers according to photography annals. That is, he wanted to make Magnum less journalistic (Capra) and more refined and artistic (like him, I suppose). I think HCB would have been a fine art critic. He talks about art and photography in a way that is obtuse and ultimately irrelevent and inconsistent.

-- Allen Chardin (Ravennv559@aol.com), March 19, 2002.