The Art of photography

HENRICARTIER-BRESSONTome,photography

isthesimultaneousrecognition,ina

fractionof

a

second,ofthesignificanceofan

eventas

well

asofaprecise

organization

of

formswhichgivethateventitsproperexpression

Ibelievethat,throughtheactofliving,the

discoveryofoneselfismadeconcurrentlywith

thediscoveryoftheworldarounduswhich

canmold
us,

butwhichcanalsobeaffectedbyus.A

balancemustbeestablishedbetweenthesetwo

worlds

—

theoneinsideusandtheoneoutsideus.

Astheresultofaconstantreciprocalprocess.

boththeseworldscometo

form

asingleone.And

itisthisworldthatwemustcommunicate.

Suchpersonaldifferencesare,infact,thelifebloodofphotography.The

peoplewhotake

picturesareasidiosyncratic

intheir

responsetoasubject

asarethosewhoviewpictures

—

perhapsmoreso,becausegoodphotog-

rapherstryhardertostripawayfamiliar,predictablemeaningsinordertore-

vealtheirpersonalideas.Differentphotographersmighthavedepictedthe

pottedtreesandthecityintotallydissimilarways.Onemighthaveexpressed

joyintheplayofcolors;anothermighthavecelebratedthe

achievementsof

humaningenuitybyshowingthetreesasdullandearthboundamidsparkling,

soaringarchitecture;stillanothermighthavesuggestedcalmbypresenting

thetreesandbenchasanislandofrepose.

But

if

any

interpretationislegitimate,whatmakesonepictureaworkofart

andanotheronenot?Thisquestionisaphilosophicaltarpit

whereinmay

be

foundthefossilsofmanyonce-glorioustheories.Platosaidthatartsprings

froma"divinemadness"thatseizestheartist.Aristotle,tryingtokeephis

feetontheground,describedartas a

meansofinducingpsychologicalre-

actionsinthebeholder.Otherphilosophershave

tried

to

defineacommon

denominatorforallartintermsof"beauty,""idealform."

"spiritualharmo-

ny,""intensifiedreality"andothervagueconceptsthatmightdriveapurely

practicalmindtodespair.

Eventhoughtheessenceofartmay

never

be

pinneddown,therearesome

broadguidelinestocreativephotography.Theystemfromthe

analytical

ap-

proachdescribedabove.Thephotographermustconsiderthe

meaningof

hissubject,itsvisualattributes,

andvariousschemesfororganizingitsel-

ements.Therearenoabsolute

lawsofestheticstobindhim,asidefromthe

onerequirementthatthesethreeconsiderations

contributetoanintelligible

whole. Ifthisrequirementisfulfilled,thepicture

will

do

honortoitscreator

—

andmayeven

qualifyasaworkofart.