Tayler's First Youtube Cavern

 Magnum Photos & The Decisive Moment

    As I often do before going to bed, I put on a YouTube video to help me fall asleep. I came across the below video about some of the best photo books and I thought it was quite interesting. If you don't want to watch the whole thing, the first five minutes are sufficient. 

    I did research on their recommendations and considering they were all great, it was tough to pick a favorite. There was one that caught my eye though and that was The Decisive Moment By Henri Cartier-Bresson. Apparently he’s super famous and has photographed Yves Saint Laurent, Marilyn Monroe, and Pablo Picasso. He pioneered street photography and most commonly shot with a 35mm film camera.

    He’s also one of the founders of Magnum Photos. If you’re like me and have never heard of Magnum Photos, this page sums up their historical significance.

The Decisive Moment 

    As you go through these photos it can be easy to ask yourself, what makes this great? Just spend some time looking at each picture, the many minor details and how all the patterns are working together. The composition is some of the best of all time. He has a unique eye for capturing creative, yet everyday situations most would never even notice.

    For example, and the most obvious, is the first picture of the bike wizzing by the spiral staircase. This scene was in his mind before the bike was coming by. He was simply waiting for that moment. Notice how the bike perfectly matches up with the bottom of the staircase, the curves of the hand railings and their relationship to the stairs, and how it works with the curved road and sidewalk. Really interesting stuff. This picture earned the prestigious award as The First Background on my New Computer.

    The second photo is equally as impressive. Again, perfect framing and timing. The five doors all working together, the shadows down the center, horizontal and leading lines everywhere. Great stuff. 

    The third photo is best explained by the author, “…a man jumping across a puddle, with his reflection in the puddle of water, and on the wall in the background, is a poster with a man jumping in the same position”. Something I didn’t even noticed until I read that.

    The rest of the article is interesting as well. It only shows a handful of photos, but it does a good job of getting the point across. You can purchase the 160 paged book on Amazon for about $400. That’s quite expensive, but maybe some day I’ll have a copy on my coffee table.