Wednesday, August 20, 2014

June 6th: The Photography of Cartier Bresson

“A picture is worth a thousand words”. This colloquial saying isn’t always true. The picture that my friend just instagrammed of her freshly made Starbucks’ Frappuccino isn’t worth more than a 150 characters. The “selfie” that any stranger takes in any given moment is worth even less characters and words. Yet, each of these acts of photography directly and indirectly documents and captures a narrative. Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook are all outlets for this new age of photojournalism. The field of photojournalism, however, was founded upon greater principles than Frappuccinos and “selfies”, which is important to acknowledge and understand.




In the early 1930s, young photographer Henri Cartier-Bression pioneered the first acts of photojournalism. These remnant photographs were extensively exhibited at the Centre Georges Pompidou this past June. While at the exhibit, two photographs resonated powerfully with me. The first image, juxtaposed the figure of artist Alberto Giacometti with the elongated form of one of his sculptures. The image was striking because Bression did not make the famous Giacometti the centralizing subject. Instead, Giacometti is, in fact, a completely unfocused blur in the image. Rather, the captivating part of the image is the dialogue between the artist and his work. Giacometti is engaged with the subject of his pieces as Bression engages with him. Additionally, the viewer of the photograph feels like they have been given the chance to step into Giacometti’s studio, which is amplified by the artist’s movement in the frame. The experience isn’t static. The viewer experiences the studio as Bression and Giacometti experienced it through movement, yet they experience that movement through a simple photograph. This technical use of framing and movement showcases the revolutionizing format of photojournalism. Ultimately, Bression incorporates technical framing and movement in combination with diverse perspective in his images in order to capture the complexity of every scene. 



For example, his image “ Défilé de mode, Rhénanie-du-Nord” captures a scene between a runway model and her spectators. The model is in the process of walking down the runway, while her spectators look on in amazement. Interestingly, the figure of the model is distorted so that only her body is visible and not her face. Additionally, she models a glowing white gown, which is contrasted by the dark exterior of her surroundings. Bression’s choice of perspective here is unique. He reverts from taking a typical photograph that focuses purely on the model. Instead, he frames the image in order to capture the entire moment and each participant’s involvement. It is this precision that allows the viewer of the photograph to be actively engaged with Bression’s subject matter.




Bression’s images unknowingly created an entirely different genre of photography. Bression’s craft calls upon aesthetics from other photographers like John Herschel and Man Ray. Like these photographers, Bression was focused on using photography to capture an unseen perspective and depth. His work stands as a legacy for the beginning of photojournalism—which hopefully will inspire modern photographers to look beyond Frappuccinos and “selfies” for inspiration.


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