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Henri Cartier-Bresson: Seize the decisive moment

Henri Cartier-Bresson: Seize the decisive moment

Approach the subject on tiptoe and capture the fugitive moment.

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Matt Ruby
Jul 03, 2025
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Henri Cartier-Bresson: Seize the decisive moment
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Learn Street Photography Through the Eyes of Henri Cartier-Bresson

Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson on the decisive moment:

But inside movement there is one moment at which the elements in motion are in balance. Photography must seize upon this moment and hold immobile the equilibrium of it.

I dig the notion of "the fugitive moment" he mentions here:

Composition must be one of our constant preoccupations, but at the moment of shooting it can stem only from our intuition, for we are out to capture the fugitive moment, and all the interrelationships involved are on the move.

Examples below…

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