A few examples of the decisive moment...

The Decisive moment is a fundamental aspect of modern photography, its roots appeared from artists like Capa and Bresson. Here are a few examples of the decisive moment...

This is a photograph called V-J Day in times Square. It was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt it is an image of a US sailor kissing his girlfriend on return from the US - Japan war. The iconic photograph marks the end of the war and it shows how those affected felt. The photographer has done very well here to capture this image as everybody will have been rushing round and lots will have been happening. He has therefore done well to take this photograph, in capturing this moment he has captured the feelings of thousands of Americans at the time.

This is a photograph taken by Stanley Forman, although the image is quite disturbing it is still a piece of photographic excellence. The photograph was taken as people were escaping from a fire, unfortunatly the fire escape collapsed and a young mother and her child fell to their deaths. Forman stood there that day and photographed the happenings. He took the picture in such a way that the people were captured as they fell. This became a controversial image but Forman argued that he didn't take a photograph of the people dead. He won a pulitzer prize for this image. The photograph is well composed but rushed due to the nature of the moment. The photograph however contains the decisive moment, this is impressive considering the amount of time the photographer had.

This is a photograph taken by arguably one of the best ever photographers; Henry Cartier Bresson. This is one of his famous all time photographs. It contains all the characteristics of a perfect photograph. In the foreground we have the stairs which follow line and tone rules and they make a good photograph as it is. However the clever part of the photograph is the addition of the bicycle, snapped at the exact moment. Nobody knows if the cyclist rode through as Bresson was taking the stairs or wether or not Bresson staged the scene. The photograph shows a perfect example of the decisive moment. The cyclist has been taken at a perfect time, too early and he would have been blocked under the stairs, the image obeys the rule of thirds and is compositionally sound.