Juvisy, France

Henri Cartier-Bresson originated the phrase “the decisive moment”—the instant when everything in the camera’s frame aligns serendipitously to create the perfect composition. A founder of Magnum, a cooperative photographic agency formed in 1947 to give photographers creative control over their own images, Cartier-Bresson traveled the world as a photojournalist. The Art Institute acquired seven of his photographs in 1962, including this image of children playing beside the Seine, precisely framed and divided by gravel, pathways, and shrubs. Edwards later wrote in a letter: “There are many great photographs by Cartier-Bresson, but this always remains my favorite.”