Time For a Decisive Moment?

[Mike Farley]

Henri Cartier Bresson's "The Decisive Moment" (a translation of the original "Images à la Sauvette") with its iconic title has to be the best known book in the history of photography. So you would think that it had never been out of print since it was published in 1952. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Amazingly there has only ever been one edition, which has long been out of print. Until now. Even at an eye watering £78, long term this might prove to be a bargain once the new edition is sold out as prices for good photography books can increase dramatically once they are no longer available new. Yes, the size of the print run is unknown, but volumes tend to be low by blockbuster standards and Steidl might also decide to print another edition, but their press is kept fully occupied so it would be at the expense of not doing something else. I have to admit that I am tempted.

More here.

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.co ... ening.html

[Mike Farley]

I went around the Matisse exhibition today and one of the items on display caused me to stop due to its familiarity. I had not realised until then the cover for Decisive Moment had started off as a Matisse cout-out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cart ... ive_Moment

The title of the book when it was first published in French was "Images à la Sauvette" which usually gets loosely translated as "images on the run" or "stolen images". Discussing this with Mrs F, expert extraordinaire on all matters to do with the French language, she suggested "images which are about to escape". This struck me as being much closer in spirit to "the decisive moment". Of course, none of the translations really works as a title in English, which is presumably why it was changed.

In this link, the translation of "images on the run" is justified by Cartier's method of raising the camera to his eye immediately before getting his shot. Hmmm, I am not so sure. To me it t sounds more like adjusting the scenario to fit a less than accurate rendering into English.

http://www.americansuburbx.com/2011/01/ ... isive.html

To follow up "caveat scrutator", with this breakthrough I claim another world first for the forum. They just keep on coming.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1023&p=4790&hilit=caveat#p4790

Now of course, what you are all asking is whether the Matisse appeared on the cover of the French edition.

http://www.eschon.com/instant-decisif-d ... r-bresson/