In many of Alpenkalb's photos Cartier can be seen "winging" it, that is holding the camera with elbows-out and away from the body. Today, conventional wisdom dictates that elbows should be kept in close to reduce camera shake. Why would Cartier at times seem to lapse into the less desirable wing position?
To find an answer, I decided to do some experiments using my full size dslr in place of the smaller Leica rangefinder used by Cartier.
Alpenkalb recently made public photographs taken some 40 years ago of the great French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. Twenty-eight photographs show Cartier in action on the streets of Lucerne providing a rare look at the style and technique of one of the founding fathers of street photography.
My goal was NOT to defend Cartier, his photographs serve as testimony to his inimitable skill, rather I wanted to see if I too could achieve a stable shooting position using "the wing."
After hours of "winging" and failing to produce an acceptably sharp photo I was so frustated I pressed hard against the camera as if crushing a tin can. To my amazement the view in the finder became rock solid. I took a deep breath. The "dynamic tension" exerted by raising elbows and pushing palms against the camera had seemed to eliminate all shake. In my frustration had I unwittingly uncovered Cartier's secret?
Over the next several days of shooting I found that when an extra degree of stability was required it was a simple matter to raise elbows and squeeze with palms. The SQUEEZE seemed particularly effective when tracking a subject where you might have to fire the shutter in mid stride. In fact it was SO good in that situation I went back to the Alpenkalb shots -
Cartier used a mixture of techniques sometimes shooting elbows-in other times deploying the wing. If Cartier was using the SQUEEZE then it stood to reason that the wing would show up most often in those photos where he's following someone. Sure enough! When Cartier appears to be tracking a subject the wing is up, and when he's stationary it's almost invariably down!!
The investigation into a technique of Mr. Henri Cartier-Bresson, a founding father of Street Photography, was closed. I had at least to my satisfaction, diciphered Cartier's "Secret Knowledge". THE SQUEEZE.
S E C R E T K N O W L E D G E ?
An investigation into a technique of Henri Cartier-Bresson
story by : b0ngo
photos by: Alpenkalb
Secret Knowledge? copyright © 2005 by bongo all rights reserved
Photographs copyright © 2005 by Alpenkalb
all rights reserved
for one last look.
Could he have used "The SQUEEZE" to steady his shots?