Decisive Moment in Photography?
If Bresson’s ‘decisive moment’ is different than the peak action of sports photography, what goes into it? What does the photographer have to be aware of to know the ‘moment?’
Does the idea apply to other types of photography besides photojournalism?
The peak action in a sports photo is a well-known moment when the jumper is at the top of his arc, or a batter is about to hit the ball, etc. In other words, there’s not much interpretation involved.
The decisive moment in a candid photograph is hard to define because it varies from subject-to-subject, and from time-to-time within the same subject. It’s the moment when something meaningful occurs that "illuminates" the subject.
It’s hard to define more exactly than that, but look at a Cartier-Bresson photo and ask yourself, "If he had snapped the shutter a half-second before or a half-second after this moment, would the photo be as good?" The answer is nearly always "no." He knew instinctively when to take the picture.
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