Henri Cartier-Bresson

Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer born 1908 and died 2004. Into his 20's and 30's he was an artist; painter and sketcher. This was until he found his passion of photography with the help of a Leica. After escaping from a prisoner of war camp in WW2 he photographed the liberation of Paris with other photographers and co founded Magnum Photos after the war.

 This image is titled FRANCE, Paris, The Quai St Bernard, near the Gare d'Austerlitz railway station, 1932. This image is a clear documentation of the time and place and Cartier-Bresson's distinct style is visible. He always exercises his skill to capture the specific moment where a subject is doing something that he may not be able to photograph again so easily. This man leaning over the edge to see something may have only been possible to capture for a split second which Cartier-Bresson has achieved effortlessly. The central wall is the wall of a rail line and it has been placed in the middle of the frame which separates the image by the style of the landscape. the right side is pedestrianised and the left looks like a loading or storing facility. On the left if looks like it has been snowing however this is not evidenced on the right. Subjects in the image are wearing trench coats and hats which would emphasise that it was cold. Usually at the time of year where it snows cloud cover is very dense which has affected the tones and contrast that was achievable. 

This is an image of Martine's Legs taken in 1967. I think that this is an amazing piece of documentary photography because this might be the way that she sits every time that she reads. It is documenting part of the subjects character. Its part of her and how it defines who she is because this position is so peculiar. Her legs look so delicate how the one is completely intertwined around the other and only the edge of the shoe is visible over the edge of the other leg. However because it is so peculiar you start to question who she is and what she does. The luxurious furniture and the fashionable dress would suggest that she is upper class. This indicates that she may have the time and space to be able to do this by herself. The light is quite intense from the left behind the furniture and I would guess that the source is from a window. The direction of the light creates a very soft contrast across the legs which also support and emphasises how delicate the positioning is.