Henri Carttier-Bresson Analysis

This image, titled Seville, Spain, was captured in 1933 by Henri Cartier-Bresson. The medium is gelatin silver print. I believe that the subject matter of this print is that of poverty, depression and children’s resolve to overcome. A group of school age children are spread throughout the foreground and background, framed by and surrounded by destroyed buildings. I believe the meaning of this photograph is that despite their homes and community being destroyed, the children can still find joy in life. They are not crying or fretting in the ruble, they are throwing balls, climbing through the holes and socializing. I assume that this is post-war and their communities were bombed or attacked by ground troops. Either their community has not …show more content…
This first of which is the use of values. Although value general refers to dark and light, such as colors in a painting, I believe it can be represented in photographs through the exposure that the photographer chose. Cartier-Bresson captured various shades of grey from the darkest on the boys coat on the left rule of thirds to the lightest in the white sky, and everywhere in between. He could have chosen to expose it lighter or darker, but this one gives various shades of grey that keep the view intrigued, wanting to view each child individually instead of the photo as a …show more content…
Although it is a simple photography technique, the framing through the hole in the wall was particularly effective in creating the illusion of space and depth. He overlapped children in the foreground in front of the framing wall, and composed others in the background to achieve great depth. He used a deep enough aperture and positioned his focus towards the middle of the foreground enough that would allow the viewer to distinguish what was in the background, but not take away from the individuals in the