The “Decisive Moment”: an anarchical aesthetics for the contemporary look

Abstract

The objective in this study is to semiotically think abouthow the concept of decisive moment as defined by Henri Cartier-Bresson constructs an anarchical aesthetic which can be perceived in a photographic workmanship. The bases for the anarchical aesthetic are drawn from the concepts in Charles Sanders Peirce’s aesthetic semiotics. The principles also include the inferences through contiguity and resemblance as the two axles that form poetics. The results show that in its simplicity, the extraordinary statement made by the photographer will lead to clean breaking with the photographic look.