Henri Cartier-Bresson

Off-kilter doorways and dark shadows contrast with bright whitewashed buildings, creating this lively geometric composition. At its center a child runs along the passageway. Taken on Sifnos, a Greek island, the scene typifies Cartier-Bresson’s capture of “the decisive moment.” As he explained in his 1952 book of the same title, “Photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression.” Much of the artist’s work focused on magical or mysterious aspects of everyday life.