While any good portrait presents a challenge, the “environmental portrait” presents the special challenge of placing the subject in surroundings that tell us something about the person. Shooting someone in their place of work — a teacher in the classroom, a film editor in the cutting room — well achieves the goal. In the best of such portraits, the background seamlessly becomes … [Read more...]
Henri Cartier-Bresson: Finding a Decisive Moment for The Waiting Stage
If Henri Cartier-Bresson isn’t my favorite photographer, he’s certainly in the top two or three. And while many of his images don’t speak to me, those 20 to 25 that do continue to amaze. If ever there was a genius in 20th Century photography, it was this man. The most well-known photographic concept attached to Cartier-Bresson is, of course, the idea of the decisive … [Read more...]