Henri Cartier-Bresson: “Just Plain Love”

The Elevator. Catalunya, 2011…a novice street photographer in action!

“What matters is to look. But people don’t look. Most of them don’t look. They just press the button…”

-Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)

HCB is considered by many to be the patron saint of street photography (he also did portraits and photojournalism) and so I thought I’d give myself–and you–a little homework today about this important photographer in the form of a documentary film entitled Just Plain Love. (I think such homework, and the understanding of the history of ideas of photography that comes with such study, is important to our development as photographers.)

HCB was a shy person and not many photographs of him exist, so it is a wonderful treat to spend some time with him in this video (1hr 10min) and hear his words and thoughts. He worked primarily with a Leica 35mm film camera, a 50mm lens, and no flash–so kiss goodbye your theory of the importance of fancy equipment. Instead, he became an expert at reading human activity and interaction on the street and he seemed to have an incredible gift for framing and capturing what became known as “the decisive moment” (the name of his 1952 publication) in iconic images such as this one and this one.

Without further ado, here is the film…enjoy!