Cartier-Bresson ‘Just plain love’ (2001 interview)
In response to HCB’s ‘Just plain love’
His very first sentence is “What matters is to look”¹. This is set against him looking at his own self portraits. A self portrait requires honesty, the ability to look and record what is actually presented, not how we see ourselves in our own minds-eye. This is a skill which should always be applied in photography especially when looking through the viewfinder.
His parents were very liberal minded, and the young Bresson was able to have constructive conversations with his mother about such things as the prostitutes with whom he would also talk. This liberal environment in which he grew up enabled him to see things in a very balanced way and taught him to ask the question and seek the answer.
It is my belief that Bresson’s ‘Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare’ was staged. Why would a rationally thinking man jump into a big puddle for no reason! He wouldn’t! Cartier-Bresson says it was luck that he pressed the button when he did. He also says he couldn’t see that the man was jumping…………….. Take the man out of the image, and ask yourself why would Bresson take that photo! Great reflection, but not much else, certainly no ‘decisive moment’!
Henri Cartier-Bresson. Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare. Paris (1932)
Was everybody so sycophantic that the obvious questions were not asked?
He goes on to answer the statement ‘that was lucky’¹ with the reply ‘It’s always luck’¹. Yes he captures decisive moments, but his true skill is finding the location that is waiting for something to fill it, he sets up, then he waits……… for the decisive moment! This requires a sense of intuition!
Henri Cartier-Bresson. Hyeres, France (1932)
The difference between the picture above and the previous one is that it could be either staged or waited for i.e. ‘The decisive moment’.
He then goes on to say ‘you have to be receptive’ as well as later mentioning Intuition & sensitivity. Cartier-Bresson had all three in abundance, and these set him apart from most other photographers of his time.
He goes for ‘form over light’. I think that if his love was of Landscape, then he may see things in differently.
He later talks about his drawing. This seems to me to be a natural transition as it is all about knowing what to include and (maybe) more importantly what to leave out. Intuition and what you have learnt through repartition play a huge part in creating something special.
A man, no matter how great at his trade, has a propensity to distort the truth (in his favour). I believe this to be true of Cartier-Bresson, however, this does not detract in any way from what he has achieved and given to the world of photography.
References
¹. ‘L’amour de court’ (‘Just plain love’). 2001. video. https://vimeo.com/106009378. ARTE France Les films a Lou.
I see! 