Henri Cartier-Bresson

Origins

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer who pioneered the genre of street photography in the 20th century. Active from the 1930s to the 1970s, he is known for his candid and spontaneous images capturing decisive moments of everyday life. Cartier-Bresson's style became famous for his use of a small, lightweight Leica camera that allowed him to blend seamlessly into the environment and capture fleeting moments of human expression and interaction. His work emphasized composition, geometry, and the timing of capturing the perfect moment. He believed in capturing the 'decisive moment', that split second when the elements of a photograph came together in perfect harmony.