I vividly remember sitting in art history class and absolutely falling head over heels for everything that was Cartier Bresson. His photography spoke to me on a very real level.

Not only were his photographs stunning in composition and contrast, but the fact that they were unplanned and completely spontaneous definitely spoke mountains about Bressons ability to find beauty in the everyday experience.

Bresson was a French photographer who has been crowned the forefather of modern photojournalism. Except he never thought himself a photographer at all. Bresson was actually an artist, beginning his early career studying both painting and drawing.

Bresson talked about the “decisive moment” as playing a huge role in the process of his photography; That split second of an instant that a photo can be made or not, totally depending on the photographer and their instinct. For him the decisive moment defined his entire photography philosophy and by the looks of his work, Bresson was immensely connected with every environment he was a part of.

It was through his photography that Bresson revealed the harmonious elegance in the everyday passing’s of ordinary people. Making the most mundane of activities brilliant and beautiful in their composition and very honest in their subjects. He was the first photographer to create poetry with his camera in a totally unplanned setting, finding beauty and harmony in the lives of the ordinary and unveiling the brilliance of life’s simple pleasures.