Well, what makes a photograph interesting? To the street photographer, it is as easy as grabbing your camera and taking a photo of whatever looks interesting. The street photographer takes to the corners of neighborhoods to find beauty in a forgotten landscape. The street photographer goes to parks where people are enjoying picnics, or to a protest, or a spontaneous baseball game in the middle of the street. The street photographer records filth, gore, love, violence, joy, poverty, wealth, and humanity.
To Cartier-Bresson’s audience in 1932, his work was completely alien. These faces told stories that were beyond their level of accepting a narrative. Cartier-Bresson’s first American gallery showing was led by gallery owner Julien Levy. Levy saw the brilliance in Cartier-Bresson’s work, but he also knew that it was too out-there for an American audience. So, in hopes of cushioning the abrasiveness of it he penned a letter which was published as an essay for that show. He called the exhibition, “amoral photography, equivocal, ambivalent, anti-plastic, accidental photography.” Though people had a hard time with it at first, Cartier-Bresson’s style soon took off. This seemingly journalistic, unprofessional form took hold internationally. Street photography began filling art galleries, museums, and books around the world.
Ethan Hohn
Staff Member