Virtual Essay

Henri Cartier-Bresson, born on August 22, 1908 in France, was a photographer who is considered to be the father of modern photography and a master of candid photography. It was his mastery of candid photography that I thought I would attempt to emulate through my photographs. Cartier-Bresson is the yard stick when it comes to candid street photography so I tried my best to take photos that adhere to his style, namely to keep my subjects from knowing that they were being photographed. To do this I used a telephoto lens on my camera that allowed me to take long shots. This allowed me to pretend to be taking shot of the scenery when I was actually shooting them from a distance.

Credit: Henri Cartier-Bresson

Above is Cartier-Bresson's image of a couple on a boardwalk. The couple seem very happy with themselves and Cartier-Bresson does a great job of capturing the moment. The photo is shot in black and white as this was the only available technology at the time the photo was taken. I feel as though if the technology was available at the time that Cartier-Bresson would have experimented with colour photography as well.

Credit: Taylor Strawbridge

Above is the picture I took of two friends outside of the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto. In this shot, they are unlocking their bicycles. This shot was somewhat inspired by the shot Cartier-Bresson shot above. I used my telephoto lens to get a shot that looks like I'm only a few feet away when, in reality, I was close to 50 feet away.

Credit: Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson shot this photo as a sort of portrait, only from the side and at a distance. It is interesting as it shows a lot of emotion from the subject, who seems to be a man of high-society.

Credit: Taylor Strawbridge

This photo of a construction worker on Bay Street near Dundas Street. I shot this one in black and white to pay homage to Henri Cartier-Bresson and the fact that he shot in this form. I shot this photo from across four lanes of traffic and pretended the camera was off to keep him from knowing I was there.

Credit: Taylor Strawbridge

I took this photo on a pretty cold and windy day and I think that it comes across in the photo to the right. The photograph was originally in full colour but I decided to go with a light sepia, which looks similar to black and white to give it a sense of cold and discomfort.

Credit: Taylor Strawbridge

This is a shot of a woman riding her bicycle I took on Bay Street. She is wearing headphones and seems to be very much into the music she is listening to on her bicycle ride. This shot was originally taken in black and white using a telephoto lens which helped to blur the background and keep the focus on the subject.

Credit: Taylor Strawbridge

As my final photograph I took a shot of this student waiting to cross the street. It seems as though something is bothering her and she is trying to figure it out. This photo was also shot in black and white to emulate Cartier-Bressons shots. I believe this is a great shot because the woman really seems to be interesting.

This project was a little difficult to do as I had to try to remember how Henri Cartier-Bresson composed his shots, which is tough to do. All in all, I think my photographs do a satisfactory job of paying homage to one of the greatest modern photographers, Henri Cartier-Bresson.