Exercise 5.3
Look again at Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photograph Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare in
Part Three. (If you can get to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London you can see
an original print on permanent display in the Photography Gallery.) Is there a single
element in the image that you could say is the pivotal ‘point’ to which the eye returns
again and again? What information does this ‘point’ contain?
Include a short response to Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare in your learning log. You can
be as imaginative as you like. In order to contextualise your discussion you might
want to include one or two of your own shots, and you may wish to refer to Rinko
Kawauchi’s photograph mentioned above or the Theatres series by Hiroshi Sugimoto
discussed in Part Three. Write about 150–300 words. 

The element of Cartier-Bresson’s photograph Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare to which I continually return is the white space between the man’s legs and his reflection as he jumps.  It is the brightest part of the picture and looks a bit like an arrow pointing in the direction the man is jumping. It is image that is presented as one HC-Bs most iconic images.