Photography is all about how you look at things. One subject, two different pairs of eyes and you end up with very different pictures. Both Henri Cartier-Bresson and Fred Stein strolled around cities, whether it was Paris or New York, with their eyes wide open and a camera, the same for that matter… a Leica. Henri Cartier-Bresson invented the notion of “moment décisif”. Fred Stein did not, but eventually had a similar approach. Across times and space, those two masters met without possibly knowing of each other. I tried to illustrate my “theory” with some examples among a rich iconography for both artists.

Bruxelles, 1932 ©Henri Cartier-Bresson
Hole in a fence, Paris, 1936 ©Fred Stein
Rue Mouffetard, Paris, 1954 ©Henri Cartier-Bresson
Man with Bottles, Paris, 1938 ©Fred Stein
André Malraux, Paris, 1968 ©Henri Cartier-Bresson
André Malraux, 1934 ©Fred Stein