Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer widely regarded as a father of modern photojournalism and a pioneer of street photography, celebrated for his concept of the decisive moment, the idea that a photograph's meaning crystallizes in a single fleeting instant of gesture, composition, and event that a photographer must be ready to capture. Working almost exclusively in black and white with a small, unobtrusive Leica camera, he traveled widely to photograph major historical events, including the liberation of Paris and Gandhi's funeral, while also producing carefully composed street photographs prized for their geometric precision. In 1947 he co-founded Magnum Photos, the influential photographer-owned cooperative agency, which helped establish photojournalism as a respected, independently controlled profession.