Henri Cartier-Bresson
Hyères, France
1932
CartierBresson coined the phrase “the decisive moment.”

Bresson was a master of the decisive moment, which involves the understanding of your camera, light and composition to create a
“perfect” image.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Behind the Gare Saint Lazare
Paris, France, 1932

Henri Cartier-Bresson
The “decisive moment” is about that serendipitous occurrence when you, the photographer, capture a scene at a pivotal, harmonious moment.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Maier was a reclusive woman who’s work was discovered long after her death in 2009.
Maier’s work was rich in expression and composition. She got close to her subjects and as a result the photographs were intimate and powerful.
Vivian Maier
Chicago, IL

The use of scale and positive/negative space, the reflection and portal of the arch at the end of the columns, all bring us through this space and focus our attention on this lone figure in the landscape.
Vivian Maier
Undated

The use of shape and more radical cropping of the figures enhances the rainy day and rush of the figures in the urban landscape.
Vivian Maier
October 29, 1953
New York

Ishimoto was a very versatile photographer.The
dialog between the person (possibly homeless?) hiding his face, the couple in the foreground, the rich quality of light all add to the character of this mage to create a story line for the viewer. Is he commenting on the homeless? Is it just a formal composition?
Yasuhiro Ishimoto
G.I. in Tokyo
1953

Even though the framing and position of the figures eliminates their faces, this image tells the story of summer time at the beach or pool.
Yasuhiro Ishimoto
Chicago North Avenue Beach

Yashuhiro Ishimoto

Friedlander was an American photographer with a great ability to use shapes, structures, reflections, and unique framing to capture city life.
Lee Friedlander
New York City
1963

He also did a series of self-portraits. Here the shadow creates an ominous feeling as it falls on the back of this unsuspecting woman.
Lee Friedlander
New York City
1966

Gary Winogrand is the quintessential street photographer of the mid to late 20th Century.
His work was edgy and unapologetic. This is an example in a series where Winogrand looked at the harsh reality of vets, likely from Vietnam. These beautifully dressed women and even the family on the bus bench ignore the man in the wheel chair. The only character in the entire image that makes a connection to the vet is the child with the group on the bench. This a great example of story telling in a single image.
Gary Winogrand
Los Angeles, CA
1969

Gary Winogrand
Untitled
1955

His ability to make connections often led to humorous images, too.
Gary Winogrand
New York
1963

Callahan challenges the traditional approach to street work in several ways. Here we have a dark dramatic view where the light is very theatrical. It directs us to the subject, masking the details that may give away any context.
Harry Callahan
Eleanor and Barbara
Chicago, 1953

Another theatrical piece from Callahan. In this image he distances himself from the subjects, driving that idea of a theatrical view. The people, who are basically anonymous are merely design elements in the frame, just like the areas that catch the light in this image. Callahan is essentially reducing down a street scene to a formal composition.
Harry Callahan

Ray Metzker, a Philadelphia photographer, studied with Callahan and his influence shows in his very dramatic, formal images.
Ray Metzker

Ray Metzker
Chicago
1958

Like Callahan he uses distance, showing us the
“bigger picture” by incorporating the architecture or landscape for context and scale. This also plays on that idea of these figures being lost in this large urban space.
Ray Metzker

Newman is the definitive photographer for environmental portraiture.
His simplicity of composition and use of elements to tell the story of his subjects is successful at both a formal and conceptual level.
Arnold Newman
Igor Stravinsky, Russian Composer, Pianist and Conductor, 1946

Contact Sheet of four negatives with
Newman’s marks and cropping lines.

The lines and geometric shapes mimic the paintings that Mondrian is known for.
Arnold Newman
Piet Mondrian, painter, New York
1942

Irving Penn is one of the most recognized fashion and portrait photographers of the 20th Century. His work is elegantly composed and carefully lit, using the edges of the frame and thoughtful placement of his subject to make the photograph a success. Any portrait work requires finesse, direction and control of your subject. It becomes even more important when the background is a gradient or blank, forcing the photographer and the viewer to rely on the subject’s expression in order to connect with the image.
Irving Penn
Truman Capote
1965

Notice the dramatic use of lighting and framing to divide the image and create movement along the brim of the hat. The eye becomes a carefully placed punctuation mark around the character lines and texture of model’s face.
Irving Penn
Pablo Picasso
1957

Irving Penn

Avedon was equally well known in the 20th Century, gracing the covers and inside pages of Vogue and
Vanity Fair . He was also adept at controlling the subject and using simplicity to make the composition successful. In this image the pose and gesture create movement within a static frame.
Richard Avedon

His series In the American West is a study of everyday working class people, rather than the famous celebrities and politicians he had primarily been known for.
Richard Avedon from In the American West

Utilizing a simple approach, Avedon’s work relies heavily on framing, body language and the quality of light.
Richard Avedon
Ronald Fisher, beekeeper
Davis, California
May 1981

In many respects this is an environmental portrait of Avedon, as it documents how he worked with his subjects for this series.
Laura Wilson
Avedon at work In the American West