Henri Cartier-Bresson, the Master of Candid Photography

Henri Cartier-Bresson, SPAIN, 1933

Henri Cartier-Bresson, the Master of Candid Photography

            Candid street photography is photographer’s attempts to capture moments happening on the street without them seeming staged or posed. They often attempt to be as inconspicuous as possible so that they can get their image without disturbing the lives of those around them. They want the images to seem natural and like the viewer could see it happening on the streets of their own town.

Henri Cartier-Bresson is often referred to as the Master of Candid Photography. His street photography images seem as if no one in the shot realized he had a camera, or that they didn’t notice him. The image above shows children laughing and playing as if they do not have a problem or care in the world, despite what is beginning to happen in 1933. The children look as though none of them have noticed Cartier-Bresson or his camera, or if they have they simply do not care.

            With his ability to capture moments like this unnoticed by those in the image, he gives the viewers the ability to see someone’s daily life without it appearing staged. The moments captured in his street photography images seem genuine in their appearance; they do not come across as forced or posed. Cartier-Bresson’s ability to capture such genuine appearing photographs is the goal of candid street photographers everywhere. He captures moments that feel like you’re just someone walking by this event happening on the street. You don’t feel like you’re looking at a photograph, you feel like you’re actually there witnessing the event or moment in time.

Cartier-Bresson, Henri. Henri Cartier-Bresson. Book 1. The Aperture History of Photography, Millerton, NY: Aperture, 1976.

"Magnum Photos." Magnum Photos. Accessed May 02, 2016. http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3.