Decisive Moment
For some time now I've contributed pictures to an online forum called Weekly Shot, and this weeks theme is The Decisive Moment. Yesterday I decided to make a picture that alludes to the concept of the 'Decisive Moment'.
So what is this concept of the decisive moment about?
In 1952 Henri Cartier-Bresson published his photographs in a book called The Decisive Moment.
As a photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson immersed himself in events and situations searching, looking for that moment when the elements of form and subject coalesce to complete the composition, 'to "trap" life - to preserve life in the act of living. .. in one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes'. In the book he writes, '.. that, if the shutter was released at the decisive moment, you have instinctively fixed a geometric pattern without which the photograph would have been both formless and lifeless'.
For this exercise I decided to make some pictures that told a photo-story, they would include people interacting with the environment they found themselves in, and I also hoped that I would be able to encapsulate the elements of this story into one frame, one composition.
Henri Cartier-Bresson at Wikipedia
Decisive Moment e-book Introduction
(0395) Posted on 5/24/2006 10:00:41 AM | Comments
 1. Posted by funny on 5/24/2006 3:53:21 AM
Beautiful picture on Decisive Moment'. nice info too
its the Household Cavalry near St Jameson the screen
 2. Posted by tony on 5/24/2006 7:46:18 AM
Funny, hi and thanks. The ceremony takes place in the middle of the morning with the Household Cavalry riding from Hyde Park up The Mall, alongside St James's Park, to change over at Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall.
 3. Posted by bean on 5/24/2006 8:11:27 AM
i <3 cartier bresson
 4. Posted by Greg on 5/24/2006 10:46:18 AM
Damn... I must be losing it, because I thought the Decisive Moment here was the hand of the photographer photographing a decisive moment 2 layers thick - the capture of the capture - which is the real capture .-)
5. Posted by tony on 5/24/2006 11:21:24 AM
Bean, hi and thanks for stopping by.
6. Posted by tony on 5/24/2006 11:43:33 AM
Hi Greg, you found it ;-] .. movie makers don't seem to have decisive moments - they're more driven by the idea of story-telling, while the photographer, trying to find a decisive moment, seems to be more associated with the temperament of a poet.
 7. Posted by stewart on 5/24/2006 12:45:34 PM
How did you take this shot,or someone else shooting maybe?Is that your hand holding the camera.The Household Cavalry on the camera monitor for me is only incidental the rest is the shot.
8. Posted by tony on 5/24/2006 2:45:22 PM
Stewart, a tourist was holding the movie camera, I just had to find the framing and the moment the picture appeared on the other screen.
 9. Posted by izZZ-YOu <-- on 5/24/2006 6:10:38 PM
Tony hope u are gr8! Miss visiting one of my faves :-) Like a bee.
 10. Posted by w|e|s on 5/24/2006 7:49:38 PM
nice thoughts Tony. well done... Cheers Tony. :-)
11. Posted by tony on 5/24/2006 11:00:48 PM
Hi izZZ, it's good to have you buzzing around ;-]
12. Posted by tony on 5/24/2006 11:02:26 PM
Thanks w|e|s, all the best with your new camera.
 13. Posted by robertm on 5/25/2006 9:05:26 AM
quite a tricky shot. I was wondering how you had done it, but stewart has already asked. Is the blurred red in the background also the Household Cavalry? - robert
8-O)
14. Posted by tony on 5/25/2006 10:05:23 AM
Hi Robert, it was tricky and fun to do. The 'tourist' with the movie camera was constantly moving so it was difficult to even get some semblance of an image on the movie camera screen, and people were packed around me so I couldn't move too much without bumping people around. The background is probably too indistinct, but is made up of people watching the event.
 15. Posted by Odon on 5/30/2006 5:00:58 PM
I had thought that the theme was about digital cameras... But it's cool, I like the Cartier reference and concept of Decisive Moment in a shot.
 16. Posted by Greg on 6/3/2006 2:44:52 AM
Peace .-)
 17. Posted by twig on 6/4/2006 3:46:28 PM
Looks like Windows to me!
;¬)
18. Posted by tony on 6/8/2006 3:34:14 PM
Odon, hi and thanks .. the theme could well be about digital cameras, but the decisive moment seemed more interesting ;-)
19. Posted by Keystone on 6/8/2006 3:35:04 PM
Thats awesome!
20. Posted by tony on 6/8/2006 3:40:53 PM
Greg .. George Bernard Shaw said 'Peace is not only better than war, but infinitely more arduous' ..
21. Posted by tony on 6/8/2006 3:47:23 PM
Twig .. yep, another way of framing the world.
22. Posted by tony on 6/8/2006 3:50:56 PM
Keystone, hi and thanks!
What Do You See?
Back in 1966 these trails in the sky were probably looked up to with some awe and a sense of excitement at the possibilities of global travel. Now, forty years later, these contrails are beginning to be seen differently. These streams of ice crystals are now being associated with the threat of global warming. These sometimes beautiful shapes and patterns, forming Cirrus clouds high in the moist, cold still air, can now be seen as the ghosts of air travel.
Next week a series of programmes start on the BBC called 'Climate Chaos'
(0171) Posted on 5/22/2006 10:27:22 PM | Comments
1. Posted by Greg on 5/22/2006 3:07:09 PM
I see stirrings in the wind... I see what true ascension is. It's dreaming a thing long enough until one day they woke up to a world with wings .-)
2. Posted by funny on 5/22/2006 3:32:10 PM
You can see this only at dry air I think
3. Posted by tony on 5/22/2006 11:55:05 PM
Greg, if you dream long enough these same wings will become signs in the sky, some will read them as warnings, many will want to look into the sand. But what will we be able to do when we recognise that these seemingly benign clouds represent strings that are choking the planet?
4. Posted by tony on 5/23/2006 12:02:38 AM
Funny, hi, I would imagine that it was pretty dry up there when I made this pic.
5. Posted by robertm on 5/23/2006 1:51:15 AM
I see old and new con trails, and maybe some cirrus cloud - perhaps a bit unimaginative - but also a photo with form, shape and colour but less content -?? 8-~) robert
 6. Posted by (Nameless/Miten) on 5/23/2006 4:22:02 AM
Actually, these are CHEMtrails ...not contrails.
Contrails dissapate. Chemtrails turn into low-flying cirrus clouds. They have a high content of aluminum and barium. In short...gov't project...
7. Posted by tony on 5/23/2006 5:35:49 AM
Robert, hi and thanks .. this picture may say little of what may lie behind these trails in the sky.
8. Posted by tony on 5/23/2006 5:41:32 AM
Chemtrails over the Essex coast ... and only half a dozen people in the UK goverment know about this!!
9. Posted by stewart on 5/23/2006 6:42:17 AM
nice shot Tony,I think that these trails are less dangerous than the smoke filled cloudes of the 50's causing the London smog,as they don't dissapate into the clouds.
10. Posted by tony on 5/24/2006 2:00:00 AM
Stewart, I agree, the London fogs caused much suffering and death. Once the factories had been moved away from the city the problem subsided. But the sky trails represent a global problem, that of pollution and global warming. This won't be solved by just moving the factories to another country. The way we have learnt to live our lives over the last 100 years will have to change.
 11. Posted by The Max on 5/24/2006 8:30:55 PM
A real problem indeed; what is amazing to me that there are so many scientist who don't agree with some of the findings. The only thing we should agree on is to pitch in, just do a little something to make a change, even unplugging your phone charger can save energy.
12. Posted by tony on 5/25/2006 12:02:24 AM
The Max, hi, good to have you stop by. From what I've read most climatologists accept global warming. The debate now revolves around the politics of what to do about it. Will we have to change our consumer driven economics? Will we be forced into travelling less because of the huge cost of making fuel and energy? These are questions for people in the 'west'. Most people in the world will be wondering how to just survive in this era of climate change that is driven by industrialisation and pollution.
Lightness of Being
The day begins with a feather falling from a Dove.
The feather symbolised the established order of things for the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptian Goddess Maat personified this concept. Maat represented truth, order, balance and justice, and existed to prevent the Egyptian universe falling into chaos. For these ancient people believed that their universe should be an ordered and rational place.
Maybe this sign from above will set the tone for the day.
(0208) Posted on 5/20/2006 9:48:10 PM | Comments
1. Posted by Odon on 5/20/2006 3:12:11 PM
Beautiful picture. Sometimes isn't a simple task to keep the balance, even today.
 2. Posted by (Nameless) on 5/20/2006 7:02:49 PM
A beautiful image Tony... I've been working on a poem with one of the lines being line " like a watercolor feather in the rain" I was wondering what kind of image might go with it. I wish I thought more like you .-)
3. Posted by stewart on 5/21/2006 7:12:12 AM
A nice delicate picture,Maat's idea of truth,order,balance and justice sounds good but there's not a lot of that in the world today.
4. Posted by Funny on 5/21/2006 10:03:19 AM
Beautiful picture and, beautiful idea
5. Posted by robertm on 5/21/2006 10:40:50 AM
beautiful image of lightness,and Maat, but I agree with stewart, there isn't much truth,order,balance and justice around, not least in Iraq -- robert
6. Posted by tony on 5/21/2006 10:47:06 AM
Odon, thanks, I agree, balance isn't simple. But even the notion of 'balance' is sometimes difficult to get your head around - wondering where the fulcrum is or even if balance is not like weighing scales, but a like a qyroscope, or maybe, these days, we can imagine a plane in flight, and adjusting the ailerons to maintain level flight and a straight horizon.
7. Posted by tony on 5/21/2006 10:57:01 AM
Greg, thanks. Your style of image-making seems to suit your poetry well .. if you had images like mine with your poetry some unusual tensions could occur - like a feather in watercolour rain ;-]
8. Posted by tony on 5/21/2006 11:08:59 AM
Stewart, definitely not a much truth, balance or justice in the world for me today - the Camden Market 'LongTimeMan' Gallery has closed down and the people have walked of with my prints and cards. No email, no phonecall, nothing, gone, I'm p*ssed off. I should have guessed that 'LongTimeMan' had a paradoxical meaning.
9. Posted by tony on 5/21/2006 12:44:39 PM
Funny, thank you, thank you.
10. Posted by tony on 5/21/2006 12:48:54 PM
Robert, yep, I think all these things are basically unatainable, they're just concepts. But at least we still have them as concepts that we can talk about and maybe even aim to achieve in our own lives.
 11. Posted by Ivab on 5/22/2006 8:39:29 AM
Mmmm... a fallen stablished order.
"V" is for... Vendetta. Nice thought. Thanks for sharing. ;-)
12. Posted by tony on 5/23/2006 12:45:46 AM
Ivab, hi and thanks for stopping by .. and H is for Harmony!! ;-]
13. Posted by stewart on 5/23/2006 6:22:03 AM
So the 'long time man'gallery has ripped you off things like this don't do ones trust in people much good,lets hope Robert dos'nt do a runners with your camera(joking of course)
14. Posted by tony on 5/25/2006 12:20:24 AM
Stewart, yep I've possibly been ripped off. I've had no contact from him since he moved out of the market. My trust in people went down for a few days and it's back to its usual level now ;-]
Fotologging
Fotologging comes to the Apple Centre in Regent Street.
Adam Seifer, the founder of Fotolog.com, says the daily aspect of photo-blogging creates a vibrant online community, and this is reiterated by James Diggle, a London-based 'logger', who gives some examples that are also featured in the Fotolog.com book produced by Thames and Hudson. The Q&A at the end of the presentation produced few questions and the event faded into the evening.
I walk up the road to Paul's Cafe in Regent Street with Douglas, who's been hibernating in the shed for some time, and wondered if TA could produce a book that represented the Text America Community.
(0340) Posted on 5/19/2006 1:29:47 PM | Comments
 1. Posted by viory on 5/20/2006 4:49:45 AM
that would be great!
2. Posted by tony on 5/20/2006 4:59:18 AM
Hi Viory .. the fotoblog.com was initiated by a 'fotologger' working at the publisher Thames & Hudson'. Now I wonder if the people in San Diego can persuade a publisher to do a TA Book. It will become a unique piece of history .. and be fascinating to look back at in say 10 years! Maybe they could edit the book and publish through http://www.lulu.com ?
3. Posted by viory on 5/20/2006 5:14:25 AM
wow, you found a publisher for it already. maurits should know about this. i know he has been making notes to write a novel about blogging the first 1 1/2 year he was on ta...
4. Posted by tony on 5/20/2006 5:23:00 AM
Viory, 'Lulu' is one of a number of 'online publishers'. It's worth trying something like this on a very small project first - a sort of learning project - and then gradually working up to the BIG project.
5. Posted by stewart on 5/20/2006 1:51:52 PM
Sounds a brilliant adea to me,once it gets started it could be upgraded to improve on it,a kind of evolution thing,yeah great idea,go for it someone.
6. Posted by tony on 5/20/2006 1:58:31 PM
Stewart .. we just need to pool our resources - which means 'money'. Unless we think we can make our money back (break even) by selling the book it will probably be a non-starter - but you never know.
7. Posted by Odon on 5/20/2006 3:00:51 PM
Really, a book with TA photos could be great. But sometimes I think that I don't know the real dimension of TA.
8. Posted by robertm on 5/21/2006 10:45:45 AM
there must be quite a lot of stuff that could go in a book on TA, it would be good to see -- robert (I thought I would not ask any awkward questions)
9. Posted by tony on 5/21/2006 11:25:20 PM
Odon, I'm also not sure the extent of TA and a book made by and for TA people may well be the vehicle for illuminating us .. and other people who want to become invloved in this form of community.
10. Posted by tony on 5/22/2006 12:09:56 AM
Robert, it's worth having a look at the 'Fotologging' book to see how they treated the subject. I think TA is a smaller enterprise, and being driven by the people living in San Diego therefore has a certain spirit or sense of identity. Maybe how we identify with TA could give a book some of its impetus. I think also the history of the name 'Text America' would also be important to look at - and also how the name itself probably limits the extent to which people would use this place for 'social networking' or any sort of 'blogging'. The other aspect of the book could be about how Text America changes its name to achieve a more global presence (more users) - this is the future - BTW - Blog The World!!
Dandelion Clock
For this moment time has ended
No breeze to carry the achene to another place
No blackbird singing
Waiting
(0216) Posted on 5/18/2006 5:47:59 PM | Comments
1. Posted by funny on 5/18/2006 11:17:09 AM
beautiful pict.
2. Posted by Greg on 5/18/2006 11:59:09 AM
I can't look at one of these withouth thinking of the wishes that could be made. Here's to wishes that need to be made, and wishes that need to come true.
3. Posted by stewart on 5/18/2006 4:37:59 PM
Nice macro shot.
 4. Posted by tony on 5/19/2006 5:09:49 AM
Funny, hi and thank you.
 5. Posted by MIGUEL™ on 5/19/2006 5:11:43 AM
cool pic
6. Posted by tony on 5/19/2006 5:13:58 AM
Greg, thanks .. dandelions remind me of childhood - and so do wishes, but it's fun to play with the idea of 'wishing' now and again
7. Posted by tony on 5/19/2006 5:15:20 AM
Stewart, thank you .. the OI gives more of a sense of 'closeness'.
8. Posted by tony on 5/19/2006 5:19:22 AM
Hi Miguel, thanks and have a good day
9. Posted by robertm on 5/19/2006 8:07:28 AM
lovely shot, as always, btw, what's OI? -- robert
10. Posted by tony on 5/19/2006 8:50:49 AM
Hi Robert, thanks .. OI is 'Original Image' - it's above the photo - Prev Page | Main Page | Original Image | Next Page
 11. Posted by Robert K. on 5/19/2006 8:02:35 PM
Very nice Tony!
12. Posted by tony on 5/20/2006 4:31:09 AM
Robert, thank you.
13. Posted by stewart on 5/20/2006 1:45:30 PM
I have put this shot onto my Desktop background for a few days.
14. Posted by tony on 5/20/2006 1:55:01 PM
Stewart, time'll stand still for a few days
15. Posted by Odon on 5/20/2006 2:42:49 PM
Beautiful macro. I'm almost blowing it.
16. Posted by tony on 5/22/2006 1:00:53 AM
Odon, thank you .. blowing may release these frozen seeds of time, some may grow and some may not.
Claire
Over the last few months Jude's mum, Claire, has suffered with an increasingly painful back. It became so bad that she could hardly move and we had to get the doctor in and have her admitted to hospital. She was in hospital for 10 days. She came back to her home last Friday (12th) and we've been helping her settle back in. We're back in London now and I'm sorting through some photographs from the last couple of weeks and will put some up here .. and then back into some regular blogging!
(0225) Posted on 5/17/2006 3:22:06 PM | Comments
1. Posted by Odon on 5/17/2006 2:14:20 PM
I hope that the things becomes better, soon. As better as possible.
And about blogging, sometimes isn't easy to make it a daily and constant activitie. Some pulls in one direction or another are really strong.
 2. Posted by Greg on 5/17/2006 2:37:42 PM
I looking at her hand and I'm seeing so much life that has ran through them. Life isn't always easy and i wonder how many difficulties these hands have had to work their way through. When you think of it like that the wear and the tear of a life becomes a beautiful thing. I hope relief becomes her constant companion .-)
3. Posted by stewart on 5/17/2006 3:31:26 PM
Good to hear Clair is back home in familiar surroundings hope she settles into a comfortable routine.
4. Posted by izZZ<-- on 5/17/2006 3:45:06 PM
Hope she feels better now...How u been, my friend?
5. Posted by tony on 5/17/2006 4:01:38 PM
Odon, thank you. Claire is coping fairly well despite having a new regime of drugs and feeling a loss of confidence in her abilities .. but I'm sure she'll feel chuffed to see her hand (and the hospital tag) being blogged!
 6. Posted by Neoslv ™ on 5/17/2006 7:14:59 PM
Hope Claire gets well soon. Have a nice day.
7. Posted by tony on 5/18/2006 12:15:31 AM
Hi Greg, yep, these, now arthritic, hands have been through much since the 1920s. It would be interesting to write a life story from the point of view of those hands.
8. Posted by tony on 5/18/2006 12:18:58 AM
Hi Stewart, you've identified the key words 'familiar' and 'comfortable' - these are important for gaining a sense of stability and confidence.
9. Posted by tony on 5/18/2006 12:21:38 AM
Hi izZZ, Claire is settling back in .. and me .. I just feel a little disorientated.
10. Posted by tony on 5/18/2006 12:25:14 AM
Neoslv, Claire is managing to cope .. taking it a day at a time.
11. Posted by robertm on 5/18/2006 9:33:46 AM
I echo the above, that Claire is as better as possible. I think that is a charming photo, and I hope Claire likes it -- from Dave's home computer --robert
12. Posted by tony on 5/18/2006 9:54:47 AM
Hi Robert, thanks, I'll have to print this page for Claire.
13. Posted by Robert K. on 5/19/2006 8:02:05 PM
I'm glad to hear she's getting settled in :-)
 14. Posted by josie on 5/19/2006 8:09:22 PM
What a powerful picture... I pray she gets better.
15. Posted by tony on 5/20/2006 4:25:24 AM
Hi Robert, thank you. The time in hospital allowed people caring for her to put together a combination of drugs that alleviated the pain that Claire's osteoarthritis was causing. She's able to get around the bungalow a liitle easier now.
16. Posted by tony on 5/20/2006 4:26:56 AM
Josie, hi and thanks for stopping by. It's amazing how drugs can be fine-tuned to deal with all sorts of pain these days.
17. Posted by viory on 5/20/2006 4:48:37 AM
i hope you both are feeling better tony. take care.
18. Posted by tony on 5/20/2006 6:18:00 AM
Hi viory, I feel that things are just about under control for the moment ...
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