The Story of a Picture: “Behind the Gare Saint- Lazare” by Henri Cartier Bresson

I chose this picture in white and black taken for Henri Cartier Bresson in 1932, Its name is “Behind the Gare Saint- Lazare”. As the title say, this photograph was taken in the train station at Paris, It shows a flooded station, more than half of picture is water, in the horizon you can recognize the building structure, maybe the station. Also there are other elements as stones, cartles in a wall, gate, a ladder and debris. There are two people, one is looking through the gate at the bottom, and the other – the main character- is jumping from the ladder to the water. It is just at this moment, in the jump, when the photo is taken, the person seem to fly in time, and this is reflected in the water. This photographer is well known for take his picture in the precise moment. I chose it because I like the instant capture, I think is a metaphore about the time because in life this kind of actions passes quickly and they are insignificant; but in this context, it suggesting poetic things.