Henri Cartier-Bresson
French, born 1908
Hyères, France
1930
Silver gelatin print
19.8 x 29.5 cm
Julien Levy Collection, gift of Jean and Julien Levy, 1975.1134
© Henri Cartier-Bresson

The photographer Cartier-Bresson was a master at capturing the “decisive moment,” where one action seems to tell an entire story. He called the camera “an extension of the eye.”

Here, he has caught a bicyclist whizzing by an iron grill-work staircase. The spiraling stairs seem to echo the wheels and spokes of the bike. Can you imagine where the bicyclist is going, and how fast? Can you guess where the photographer was standing?