Animals within us

Quotes from Henri Cartier-bresson

For me the camera is a sketch book,
an instrument of intuition and spontaneity,
the master of the instant which, in visual terms,
questions and decides simultaneously.

In order to give a meaning to the world,
one has to feel involved in what one
frames through the viewfinder.

This attitude requires concentration,
discipline of mind, sensitivity,
and a sense of geometry.

It is by economy of means that one arrives
at simplicity of expression.

To take a photograph is to
hold one’s breath when all faculties converge
in a face of fleeing reality.

It is at that moment that mastering an image
becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.

To take a photograph means to recognize
simultaneously and within a fraction of a second
both the fact itself and the rigorous organisation of
visually perceived forms that give it meaning.

It is putting one’s head, one’s eye, and
one’s heart on the same axis.
-henri cartier-bresson