I recently ran across this video by Radio Lab about “Moments.”

“How would you define a moment?”

If you’ve ever heard a group of photographers sitting around talking about their craft or editing their work I’m positive that you heard the word “moment” come up. We use the word often. We are always looking for them and analyzing them. We discuss such things as “What do you think is more important, good light, good composition,  or a good moment?”

There can be quiet moments and loud moments. Still moments and chaotic moments. 

As far as I can tell, the word “moment” was first coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson when talking about “the decisive moment.” 

“By 1932, at age 24, Cartier-Bresson had begun to devise a whole new manner of shooting pictures. He displayed an intuitive knack for choosing “the decisive moment,” as it came to be called, that instant when a shutter click can suspend an event within the eye and heart of the beholder, an exhilarating confluence of observer and observed.”

          -David Friend, Vanity Fair

So how do you define a moment? And What are some of your favorite moments?