THE NEGATIVE BEHIND THE SHOT – BRESSON

Thanks to the website Leicaphilia for posting this shot of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s negative and portrait of the “decisive moment” he made so famous in still photography over 80 years ago.

“There was a plank fence around some repairs behind the Gare St. Lazare and I was peeking through the space with my camera at my eye. This is what I saw. The space between the planks was not entirely wide enough for my lens, which is the reason the picture is cut off on the left.” – HCB

Bresson was already considered one of the world’s greatest photographer when Time magazine named this image “The Photo of the Century”:

1932 Derriere la Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris, France (original and cropped print)

(Photographers of negative and HCB: Unknown)