Camera

• Cartier-Bresson photographed with a small, light-weight Leica camera, which allowed him to move quickly and take pictures without being obtrusive. He mostly shot with a standard 50 millimeter lens, so that he needed to move in close to his subjects in order to fill the frame. This lens forced him to get involved with his subjects, much more than if he were shooting from a distance, with a longer lens. The 50 millimeter lens continues to be popular among photojournalists and street photographers.
  
  

Film

• Cartier-Bresson shot with black and white film, which gave his pictures an abstract quality, reducing them to stark compositions. In today's digital world, film is not often used, but it has a grainy, imperfect feel that is difficult to achieve in any other medium.
  
  

Approach

• Cartier-Bresson believed it was important for a photographer to be in sync with his surroundings, to sense the rhythm of a scene and to feel connected to his subject matter. He quietly and surreptitiously set himself in the middle of the action, a technique that enabled him to capture events in a way that other photographers had not. One of his most famous photographs is of Ghandi, in an eerily relaxed moment, just 15 minutes before he was assassinated.
  
  While Cartier-Bresson's images can appear almost casual, he believed that the geometry of a composition was critical. He shot very quickly, but at the same time his images were always carefully composed.
  
  

Tips

• Photographers today continue to learn from Cartier-Bresson and apply his technique to their photographs. Here are a few suggestions for incorporating Cartier-Bresson's approach into your own photography.
  
  Carry a small camera with you at all times, so that you are always ready to capture a spontaneous moment.
  
  Put yourself in situations where you feel an emotional connection to the scene. The more connected you are, the more powerful your pictures will be.
  
  Shoot images every day. This may seem obvious, but the more you shoot, the better you will get at sensing the perfect moment to click the shutter.
  
  Shoot black and white film, or set your digital camera to the black and white setting.
  
  Play around with angles and composition in your photographs. Cartier-Bresson's images were often off-center, shot from unexpected angles.