Digital Experiment/Exercise: Decisive Moment

Decisive Momoment:
"simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression." Henri Cartier-Bresson

Choose one photograph from a photographer that you like from Photograph as Contemprary Art by Cotton, or a photograph by a photographer we've seen, read about, or discussed in class that you think works in the style of decisive moment. I encourage you to check out photo books from the library.

  1. Explain how the photograph you chose is working structurally and compositionally as having the qualities of "decisive moment".
  2. Then take a digital photograph, specifically for this assignment with the same structural logic. (It can, but it need not look formally similar.)
  3. Post the photograph you referenced (if possible from online searches), your text and photograph on moodle here.


The goal is not necessary to take a great photograph (although it doesn't hurt) but to understand and internalize the process of taking such a photograph. It will inform and change the way you look at photographs.

This isn't a creative project. It is a technical exercise. That is, don't force your spin on it. What I expect is a straightforward attempt at a decisive moment. That is why I value the attempt/process and not the end result



I value your intent and analysis more than the end result. Great decisive moment photographs are hard to come by... as indicated by books such as "Photographs Not Taken"