Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Henri Cartier-Bresson (French Photographer)

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004) was a renowned French photographer widely acknowledged as the father of modern photojournalism. His photography was characterized by his impeccable sense of timing and ability to capture the decisive moment.

Born in Chanteloup-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, Cartier-Bresson developed a deep passion for the arts from an early age. He initially studied painting under the tutelage of the French artist André Lhote in 1927–28 and also pursued literature. However, it was after a trip to West Africa in 1930 that he turned to photography. His first published photographs emerged in 1933. In the late 1930s, he traveled to Mexico and the USA, where he worked as an assistant to film director Jean Renoir.

Following World War II, Cartier-Bresson escaped from imprisonment to join the Resistance. He went on to co-found Magnum Photos, an independent photographic agency that granted photographers control over their work and hold their copyright. Cartier-Bresson exclusively worked in black-and-white and focused on capturing spontaneous moments that depicted contemporary life. He documented numerous historically significant events, including the Spanish Civil War, the liberation of Paris, and the funeral of Mahatma Gandhi. His images encapsulated the essence of these moments and conveyed a profound understanding of human emotions and the intricacies of life.

In the late 1960s, Cartier-Bresson shifted his focus towards filmmaking, directing notable works such as Impressions of California (1969) and Southern Exposures (1971.) And in the mid-1970s, he left photography behind and returned to his roots in painting and drawing. His collections of photographs encompass various notable works, including Images à la Sauvette (1952, also known as The Decisive Moment,) Europeans (1955,) People of Moscow (1955,) Cartier-Bresson’s France (1971,) Portraits 1932–83 (1983,) Henri Cartier-Bresson in India (1988,) and America in Passing (1991.) Additionally, he published a book of drawings titled Traits pour Traits (1989, Line by Line.)

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Henri Cartier-Bresson

In a portrait, I’m looking for the silence in somebody.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: The Artist

Memory is very important, the memory of each photo taken, flowing at the same speed as the event. During the work, you have to be sure that you haven’t left any holes, that you’ve captured everything, because afterwards it will be too late.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Photography

A photograph is neither taken nor seized by force. It offers itself up. It is the photo that takes you. One must not take photos.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Photography

The world is going to pieces and people like Adams and Weston are photographing rocks!
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Photography

Above all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Photography

Actually, I’m not all that interested in the subject of photography. Once the picture is in the box, I’m not all that interested in what happens next. Hunters, after all, aren’t cooks.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Photography

The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Photography

In every photographer there is something of a stroller.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Art

In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotiv.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Photography

Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Photography

The photograph itself doesn’t interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Photography

To take photographs is to hold one’s breath when all faculties converge in the face of fleeing reality. It is at that moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Photography

To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.
—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Topics: Photography

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