The Decisive Moment - Ideas please

[Derrel]

The phrase, "The decisive moment," was legally defined by United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, in the 1964 decision in the case Jacobellis v. Ohio. Justice Stewart said an exact definition of the decisive moment was difficult to arrive at but that, "I know it when I see it."

No, o, wait,wait...that was obscenity he was defining. Nevermind

Source: I know it when I see it - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[photoguy99]

In colloquial usage the phrases 'street photography' and 'decisive moment' generally mean 'my photos, which I fondly imagine are kind of like HCB's'

In reality the vast majority of people who think they're following in Bresson's footsteps don't even grasp what he was doing, because they are camera enthusiasts rather than artists. Those that do grasp it generally can't do it.

It's extremely hard. Like orders of magnitude harder than most picture taking. Almost anyone can be taught to take, say, senior portraits, 500px ready landscapes, or imitations of common fashion styles. Almost nobody can do that thing HCB did.

The fact that in colloquial usage these are meaningless noises doesn't mean that they didn't mean something pretty definite and clear, once upon a time.

 

[gsgary]

On a detailed webpage on the decisive moment, the author says:

"...here is another excerpt, found elsewhere in the preface, which most succinctly summarizes Cartier-Bresson’s idea of decisive moment: 'To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression.'"

So a landscape wouldn't qualify, I guess. I think it's a decisive moment to the extent that timing is involved.

Didn't I write that earlier [emoji34]

 

[Vince.1551]

In colloquial usage the phrases 'street photography' and 'decisive moment' generally mean 'my photos, which I fondly imagine are kind of like HCB's'

In reality the vast majority of people who think they're following in Bresson's footsteps don't even grasp what he was doing, because they are camera enthusiasts rather than artists. Those that do grasp it generally can't do it.

That's a sweeping statement

It's extremely hard. Like orders of magnitude harder than most picture taking. Almost anyone can be taught to take, say, senior portraits, 500px ready landscapes, or imitations of common fashion styles. Almost nobody can do that thing HCB did.

Likewise many people can do Bresson style photography. Just because they are not Bresson they don't get any credit for their work. Like I say ... If Bresson posted his shots here for C&C guess what would happen...

The fact that in colloquial usage these are meaningless noises doesn't mean that they didn't mean something pretty definite and clear, once upon a time.

As with 99.9% of photos taken...

Perhaps I should make it clear that I've nothing against Bresson's style. My point is that style is not unique. Too much publicity!

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[gsgary]

In colloquial usage the phrases 'street photography' and 'decisive moment' generally mean 'my photos, which I fondly imagine are kind of like HCB's'

In reality the vast majority of people who think they're following in Bresson's footsteps don't even grasp what he was doing, because they are camera enthusiasts rather than artists. Those that do grasp it generally can't do it.

It's extremely hard. Like orders of magnitude harder than most picture taking. Almost anyone can be taught to take, say, senior portraits, 500px ready landscapes, or imitations of common fashion styles. Almost nobody can do that thing HCB did.

The fact that in colloquial usage these are meaningless noises doesn't mean that they didn't mean something pretty definite and clear, once upon a time.

I can't find a thread started by you where you have posted your work all I could find was bullshit

 

[Vince.1551]

Lol


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[photoguy99]

I've said many times that I don't post photos publicly on the internet any more.

Luckily, you can judge what a man says by reading the words.

 

[Vince.1551]

A picture speaks more then a thousand words [emoji23] gotta just let it out lol


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[The_Traveler]

Facts speak for themselves, opinions and ideas need buttressing.

 

[photoguy99]

Are you proposing, Lew, that my own photos would somehow buttress my opinions and ideas (well, really, my repetition of other people's, I say virtually nothing on this forum that isn't pretty much directly lifted from people who know more than I) about other people's photos?

I don't see how on earth that would work.

But perhaps you're talking to someone else.

 

[gsgary]

Why are you on here if you won't post photos what is the point

 

[photoguy99]

I'm taking about photography on a photo forum. Crazy, huh?

I've been over this a bunch of times. Use the search.

 

[Vince.1551]

Lol


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[sashbar]

Henri also said “Sharpness is a bourgeois concept”. Which hasn't any relationship to the Decisive Moment, but there you go.

That was my anti-bourgeois decisive moment

 

[The_Traveler]

If I go into a hospital to get a diagnosis and some random person dressed in white tells me something, I don't put much, if any, weight on what they say unless they have credibility in some way.
You can talk all you want but once what you say about photography devolves into strictly opinion then it loses much impact.

I think that my opinion has whatever credibility it does for two reasons; first I've been critiquing pictures and showing edits for a while and the comments seem to make sense and I actually put some effort into it. Second, I post pictures.
I post pictures, not because I am looking for help, but because I want to bolster the weight of my opinion with evidence that I have some expertise, ability and taste.

You haven't been around enough to have built up that credibility and to think that your possible genius and artistic temperament is immediately apparent from text is unrealistic on your part.
I did do a search and your answers are generally single lines, often seeming to imply that you have the real knowledge and you're just going to share this bit with us.

The feeling I get from your posts, and perhaps others do also, is that you feel yourself somehow above the rest of us and are just condescending to share some time with us.
Well this place has a culture and you aren't buying into it.
You may be worthwhile to listen to but I can't tell yet.