Sebastiao Salgado on the Decisive Moment.

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A beautiful description of Cartier-Bresson’s “decisive moment” by Sebastiao Salgado. “His operating philosophy, this integration with the subject, is different from Cartier-Bresson’s “decisive moment”, a theory that the photographer must catch the instant when the elements present reach a balance. Salgado, borrowing from geometry, describes the ambiance of a scene as a crescendo of moments, a rising curve. The critical moment for Cartier-Bresson, Salgado says, would be when the curve reaches its peak and begins to fall. Salgado wants to live within the curve, experiencing all of it with the subject.” Source: New York Times

Photo Essay: Asia Journey, by Henri Cartier-Bresson

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After Paris and Europe, Cartier-Bresson’s second love was Asia. He spent a lot of time across the region after the war, capturing a journey of images across China, India, Kashmir, and Southeast Asia. He was there at the death of Gandhi, and his picture firmed the event’s decisive moment. He had a particular fondness of Indonesia, and married Ratna Mohini, a Javanese dancer.

Photo-Essay: The Great Leap Forward China, By Henri Cartier-Bresson

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Henri Cartier-Bresson’s ambitious 1958 photo essay on the Great Leap Forward, Mao Tse-tung’s intensive program of forced industrialization. He worked steadily for four months in China, and although he was closely monitored by the authorities, he returned with a very substantial body of work, rich in concrete detail.