Cartier-Bresson Image Critique

Henri Cartier-Bresson. 1967. Martine's Legs.

I chose this photo because it reminded me a lot of some of the imagery from the Titanic. I love the general aesthetic of the the photo as well as the imagery that it brings together. I'd like to know more about the rest of the day here, and understand if this was a photo in passing or a posed photo.

This composition focuses brings its subject into focus very quickly, with the legs being front and center. As you wander around the composition, the eye always brings you back to the legs. The contrast in the photo is quite good with many shades of whites, greys, and blacks, and keeps the shadows in the background crisp and not washed out. The legs and the shadows all lead up to the lady reading the book, in which it appears as though she has just opened. Some things that this composition did a better are the focus on the shoes, and the fur rug at the bottom, which would allow the entire photo to be more crisp and present a little more contrast in the bottom, as well as keep the photo more interesting in all sectors. I would also make the book apx 1/3rd through the pages to make this photo look less staged which would help the overall mood of the photo.

Henri Cartier-Bresson. FRANCE. 1968. Brie.

I chose this photo because of the depth of the scene. I really loved the dirty, traveled road moving the eye into the tree line, which then takes the eye to the back where the haze builds emotion.

This composition creates emotion through depth, and is quite interesting in its process. The grass fields provide a great backdrop to flow the eye into the focal point which then draws the eye into the depth of the tree-line. It makes you wonder what's at the end. I also enjoy that the photo seems to be in focus through the entirety of the depth, in which you can make out individual trees through the contrast of the photo. There are a few intricacies that I would change to make it more interesting like getting closer to the ground which would bring the grass-line higher and delete some of the unnecessary whitespace. This would also bring the rule of thirds horizon up and create more emotion with the road. I would also bring the tree line into symmetry and pull it closer to the center of the frame, which would, in theory make it more static, but the photo would be unaffected because of the asymmetry of the road and the tree-line leading backwards.