Cartier-Bresson is noted for his quick images taken as they happen. His1952 book on photography, The Decisive Moment, is a more elegant translation of the French title Images à la sauvette, Images on the Sly.
Sunday on the Marne captures the spontaneity of a picnic. Two bourgeois couples, all very hefty, sit on a barrier alongside the Marne, eating a picnic lunch. The background is their boat moored on the embankment. The lunch is spread out on a cloth. There is a hamper and wine. They eat on ceramic plates and use proper cutlery. Drink from authentic glasses. Man in shirtsleeves and suspenders and hat is pouring wine. The man in the cap is just leaning back slightly, hands behind him looking forward. To the left of him, a woman sits, hand her held up with food in it. To the man’s left with the cap, a woman seems to be breaking apart a piece of chicken. A newspaper sits on the grass behind her.
Featured Image: Sunday on the Banks of the Marne (1938), Gelatin silver print on paper.