Monday, August 30, 2010

Somebody Get Me a Bicycle

So I'm wandering the streets of Monaco when I stumble upon a set of rustic, old-world, concrete-and-stone stairs. They immediately struck me as a heavy black and white candidate, and I snapped this...


Aside from looking cool, with leading lines and graphic elements and loads of texture, the scene also reminded me of my favorite photograph by the late Henri Cartier-Bresson. Witness "
Hyères, France, 1932":

© Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum

In my mind this is a perfect image. It has everything. And it reflects Cartier-Bresson's pursuit of the "decisive moment" where everything falls together in a single, fleeting instant.

Now, I'm not suggesting I have even an inkling of Cartier-Bresson in me. But if I would have had the time to wait for someone to walk through the upper left corner of that frame...

2 comments:

  1. I opened the page in a small window, so I saw your shot before HCB's; When I saw yours, I thought EXACTLY the same thing - it reminded me of that HCB specific photo. Nice job.

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  2. Most interesting. I found the place where he took that pic in Hyeres with the bicycle. Luckily I had a spare bike.

    http://www.ventspleen.com/?p=531

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