Henri Cartier Bresson

What photojournalism?

Photojournalism is where a photographer gets assigned to take photos at a specific location to get the best shots and to try and capture the hidden meaning of what is actually happening in the shot. Photojournalism is both reliable and unreliable. I think it is reliable because the photographer can capture shots that can show the world what is actually happening in the shot. People may argue against this because they may think there is more to the shot than meets the eye. I also find it unreliable because the photographer could stand in a spot where the world cannot see half of the story therefore injecting the wrong meaning of the shot to the world. People may argue against this because they may be patriotic and think that the image shown should be taken like that to help the country out (similar to propaganda).

Henri Cartier Bresson is famous because he caught one of the best shots in the twentieth century (1933). As being a rich boy he could afford the newest revolutionary Leicus camera which was one of the best in its day as it had the newest lens technology. The pictures he captured were all about being in the right place at the right time. He started to get  called the godfather of photojournalism because he was capturing such perfect photos. There was a wide range of things he had to do to get these photos from pouncing to capture the split second the image would form to stalking and waiting for the shot to happen this needed massive amounts of patience.

Henri Cartier Bresson's work is significant because he captured images that have a particular meaning but can also be hiding a large chunk of the truth. The shot he took was not just one amazing picture; he captured many other amazing shots that had hidden meanings which helped him show his fame and become the photographer of the best twentieth century photos.

The camera Henri Cartier Bresson used was a Leicus. One of the best cameras at the time with the best lens technology. The techniques he used were being in at the right place at the right time or just waiting around being patience and waiting for the shot to happen in its own time.