The Decisive Moment

While the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson is often attributed with coining the phrase “the decisive moment” it was derivative of the phrase “Augenblick,” which literally means “In the blink of an eye.” It is a matter of debate as to which mathematician in initially coined the phrase (Leonhard Euler, Carl Friedrich Gauss, and Bernhard Riemann are the names most mentioned).

Think of a pendulum where, for that one moment, a “decisive moment” in time when the forward movement stops and the ball is suspended, reaches the apex of its forward momentum, before it begins it’s return and moves in the opposite direction.

This photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Place de l'Europe, Paris, 1932 (also known as "Behind The Gare St Lazare") is usually used as an example of that “decisive moment” where the man jumping is in mid-air, just for a split second of time. The person looking at the image must wonder, “Did he make it over that puddle of water? Or did he end up in the middle of it soaking wet?”

"A Photograph is made not taken." - Ansel Adams

In 2021 I was coming back from Lahore, Virginia, driving down a two lane road when I saw this home of to my left. There was no way I could see to reach it, so I had to stop and shoot from the car. Which I did with a 300mm lens. This was the first shot of the only two I could get.

This was the second shot, cropped vertically to capture that beautiful storm that was approaching. The cropping made a huge difference. And in the final print I did sepia tone the foliage, and burned down the clouds a bit to make the white home “pop” and increase the tension of the image.

While the toning and burning was done afterwards the original image was created in those few moments, probably about a minute since I was on the road. It was a “decisive moment.” Not in the blink of the eye but the click of the shutter at 1/400 of a second.

Sometimes those are the moments and opportunities that define a powerful image.