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    • I totally agree with you, Jean-Marc! Actually hearing his voice (a first for me!) and listening to what he said about some of his images was so inspiring!!! I have tried studying his images to understand why his images are so perfect, especially since he was (from what I have heard) a one camera, one lens kinda guy.

  6. A comment I forgot to make, was that in every one of those shots in the retrospective, his composition was flawless! Knowing that each print was made to the edge of the frame without cropping, I was stunned by his perfection! Just speechless!

    Levent

  9. Love it. What an enthusiasm. He is really one with what he is doing!

    “Bamm, got it, rahrr. You see?”

    “And there is no maybe. All the maybes should go to the trash.”

    • I think today the wrong criteria is often used to judge the “maybes” though. Like noise, focus and sharpness.

      • Absolutely agree. The maybe should be about whether to take the picture or not. I think that is one of the problems with taking portraits. You have to create the yes. In the street the yes will appear and then disappear. Then on to the next yes.

        The argument of overshooting and missing the moment between the frames is almost nullified by technology, but it does happen when the buffer is full or when we miss seeing the picture because we took so many we lost it on the hard drive and may never see it again. And maybe we are not focused enough knowing how many frames we have!

        • Interesting regarding technology almost nullifying “missing the moment” regarding buffer issues. I shoot a lot of action scenes (typically birding) which are ideally suited to rapid shooting. I use both single and multiple shots (10 fps) but frequently find the single considered shot to be superior.

          This is an awesome video. Thanks.

  10. Great video, thanks for posting it.

    Last month I was at the High Museum in Atlanta visiting the Cartier-Bresson retrospective (which I think was at MOMA last year). I spent over 3 hours studying the 300 prints and really developed a new appreciation for the man, especially looking at the original prints up-close. What struck me was how much softer the focus and less contrasty his early work was (which I am guessing was a result of slower lenses, slower film stock and the fact that he made his own prints in that period). If you can attend this exhibition if it comes near you, do so, you won’t regret it!!!

    Levent

  11. He is an inspiration, always, because he teaches us that it is about vision. Geometry, lines, shapes, how they correlate to a human form, which is often included in his surrealistic work. It’s never about gear or technicalities. In fact, there are constant arguments about his images being over-exposed. Who cares? Being correct, from a technical standpoint, rarely, if ever, brought anyone any artistic success. The talent is in learning how to see and then capture it with a box and a lens.

  20. Thank you Steve for posting this beautiful video with wonderful words from the master himself.
    Very inspiring, his last words in the video: “YES…click…click…click…” It gives me the creeps.

    • Adore, that is the word. I love that with all the other technicalities that people, including myself, obsess over on a daily basis, that a few minutes of well chosen words from a man before I was born (just) still sum up the situation perfectly. I’m going to try not to think about anything but evoking for a year. It doesn’t matter how or with what.

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