Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?
Henri Cartier Bresson (1908-2004) Cartier-Bresson was a french photojournalist that began his practice in 1931 until roughly around 1968 when he began to focus more on painting. (Photographer Profile, 2020)
What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyze (can you provide a link?)
There is no strict title for this piece but it is referred to as ‘Inside the Sliding doors of the Bullfight Arena’
With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?
The photograph was produced in 1933 in Valencia, Spain.
How was the photo or video authored?
Henri Cartier Bresson authored this photo around the beginning of his career as a world-renowned photographer, before his first exhibition in 1933. (Photographer Profile, 2020) As such, the photo was likely taken with his Leica rangefinder on black and white 35mm film using a 50mm lens. (Rockwell, 2012) His technique for capturing his photos was searching what he deemed ‘the decisive moment’, organic moments in time captured in the scene as he was not one to stage scenes to photograph. To him, he viewed the camera as a sketchbook, able to instantly capture a moment and the emotion of a scene in another way besides drawing or painting. Cartier-Bresson stated in the documentary ‘The decisive moment’ that he also loves geometry in his photos and searching for ‘the structure of the photo’ (Scholastic Magazines, Inc, 1973) it isn’t something he directly seeks out but he enjoys the recognition of these structures.
You see this within the photo through its strong use of rectangular shapes with the who I assume is a staff member watching from the foreground white door in contrast with the darker door in the background obscuring a boy sneaking either in or out. It creates a sense of mystery with the gentleman in the foreground unaware of what is occurring behind him and questioning the reason for the stealth. With Cartier-Bresson’s interest in capturing the mundane life of people in the moment, it is an image that captures that decisive moment of tension and mystery as to what the full picture is.
How was the photo or video published?
With Cartier-Bresson’s first exhibition in 1933 in the Julien Levy Gallery in New York, (Photographer Profile, 2020) the photo would have been taken and later printed the same year. This was done on a Gelatine Silver Print method, a method for developing black and white film within a darkroom. Film is highly sensitive to light. Thus when the photo is captured, the shutter will only open for a moment to allow light in to reflect onto the film. The photo must then be developed in a darkroom using only a dim red or green light to prevent damage to the sensitive film. Then an alkaline solution and then acidic solution is used to dip the photo to create a photonegative of the image. Then by shining light through the image to create the photopositive print of it. (Woodford, 2020)
How was the photo or video distributed?
With the time period, and the world wide web not in existence yet the print would likely have only been distributed at first through Cartier-Bresson’s exhibition. Later on it would have likely been distributed through other exhibitions and books that Cartier-Bresson wrote. In the current day and age, however. The print is available through Magnum Photos’ website, the company that Cartier-Bresson helped to found in 1947 (Photographer Profile, 2020). It is also widely available now from this throughout the internet, requiring only a quick google search to locate on a multitude of websites.
References
Magnum Photos. 2020. Photographer Profile – Henri Cartier Bresson. [online] Available at:
Scholastic Magazines, Inc, 1973. Henri Cartier-Bresson – The Decisive Moment. Available at:
Woodford, C., 2020. Film Cameras And 35Mm Photography – A Simple Introduction. [online] Explain that Stuff. Available at:
Rockwell, K., 2012. Cartier-Bresson And The Leica. [online] Kenrockwell.com. Available at: