Cartier-Bresson, born in 1908 and died in 2004 was a French photographer in modern photojournalism, and even considered to be its pioneer, who inspired generations. His style was in the form of a ‘decisive moment’ and believed that the very best images were not manipulated but natural, and often he would take photos on the go as he would see them. Many of which photos he took became hugely symbolical at the time, such as the image above; ‘Mississippi’. The Photo subject is about inequality of race, and at the time of the late 1950’s with the insertion of Blacks into the community, they were not seen as equals, and this is shown perfect here with the two black men framed on the right to appear to have less space and a smaller bench than the white man on the right who has enough room for many more on his bench. He also has open body language which shows confidence and dominance, whereas the black men seem defensive and withheld wearing dirtier clothes, perhaps after being hard at work. The white man also has a bottle of beer while the black men sit in font of an advertisement almost as if showing what they do not have. The image is composed perfectly to explain this inequality in race, all without being staged.
Perspective Eyes 