The Decisive Moment: a Daily Reality

I was looking at Stefan Zweig’s “Decisive Moments in History” book (original in1927, English translation by Ariadne Press, 2007) and as a street photographer, was intrigued by the use of the term “Decisive Moment” often attributed to Henry Cartier-Bresson. So I did a quick search and found that there were numerous books, some written before the Bresson era, where those terms were used. For example there is “The Decisive Moment” by Arthur Maxwell (1940, Pacific Press, original in Czech), “Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity” by Mark A. Noll (Baker Pub Group, 1997), and “Decisive Moments in the History of Islam” (2001, Goodword Books) among others. 

Henry Cartier-Bresson would have not been surprised by the widely universal concept of the “decisive moment” since he has stated that “there is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment”. As a photographer he applied this concept, in a split second, to find “… the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression”(1)

… So, I had his statement in mind when I took my camera for a walk among people enjoying a sunny Saturday in June.

There were musicians attempting jazz improvisations, kids chasing old dogs that wanted to just sleep in a shady corner, and elderly men sitting on public benches wondering how the years went by. As I walked around, I was attracted by a young woman doing acrobatics with a hula-hoop.  She was gracious and seemingly oblivious to the busy surrounding. She was in her own “zone”, looping around the hoop and attempting various moves.

I watched her for a while and suddenly it occurred to me that her acrobatics did not provide Cartier-Bresson’s “precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression.” So, I decided to wait for that moment – will it happen? And if so will I be able to click, in a split second, to capture that proper expression?

I had my beloved 1960’s Nikkor-P 180mm lens to allow me keep a certain distance without interfering with the flow of events. I was a bystander, not a participant.

I did not know what I was looking for. Would it be that a passer-by will be hit by the hoop she was throwing and catching? Would she fall? Will a dog interfere with her acrobatics?

After a moment I realized that to give form and movement to the moment I needed to capture that moment “framed” by the hoop. Yes, the hoop would define the boundaries and would frame the moment.

With that in mind, I took a few split second pictures. This one comes close to what I had in mind.

  (1)Cartier-Bresson., H. 1952. The Decisive Moment. Simon and Schuster.

June 28, 2015

©Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2015