The Decisive Moment

The Decisive MomentWe 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. We cannot develop and print a memory.

– Henri Cartier-Bresson

Knowing when to wait to make a photograph; anticipation of the moment a photograph should be made.

A candid photograph taken at the precise moment which defines or illustrates the entire story or action.

Simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression.

How can we define it?

Images on the Run Stolen Images

Who said it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyhMqDfmG9o

What does the Decisive Movement look like?

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Vivian Maier

http://vimeo.com/34861796

Dryden Goodwin

The first works presented here are from the series Cradle. In these new works, extended from a previous series, Goodwin etches into the print surface of black and white portraits he has made of passers by on the streets. As Goodwin inscribes into the print, as if to reach back to the moment of the photographs original exposure and to his subjects’ pensive moments of reflection, the title Cradle takes on a literal tone. The work becoming a site of nurturing in which he wonders about these strangers, imagining an affinity and even an intimacy with them. Nevertheless, within the scratching of the print’s surface, a sense of violation also lingers, as does the subjects’ vulnerability to a less than benign form of voyeurism.

For Caul, Goodwin draws into the photograph using a digital drawing tablet, the artist presses onto its membrane-like surface with a digital stylus, the more pressure he exerts the deeper and more luminous the line he draws. A Caul is the name given to a portion of the amniotic sac that can be left over a child’s face at birth. In some cultures, the caul has demonic associations; more usually it is considered sign that the child is safeguarded, even bestowed with special powers. Goodwin’s title resonates with this association, reinforcing the visceral quality of the distinctive red lines that cover the faces of the people in the work, like blood vessels or raw tissue.

The metamorphosis of Beijing's urban landscape is so shattering that maps become obsolete in a matter of days. The old hutongs, traditional districts with ground floor houses, are being swept aside by skyscrapers and their inhabitants face an enforced exile to the outskirts of the city. Beijing reeks of money, of an unstoppable city which is devouring itself and spewing out cement, dollars and people. Because 'China will be even greater', say the youngsters glued to their mobile telephones, 'when we are all rich.'

Matias Costa

When We Are All Rich …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afkj4D16eIk

How will you show us a Decisive Moment? Or Decisive Moments?

How can you interpret the idea of the Decisive Moment?

What genre can you explore to develop a body of work that defines the Decisive Moment?

Idea Development and Brainstorming …..