Hello. Here is Izumi again and I have an old photo to tickle your interest.

When I was a little girl ('nipper' is what you say?) I was going for holiday trips with my parents.

They were looking at cherry blossoms and shape of Mount Fuji and ancient temples at Kyoto and such but even then younger me wanted to find Decisive Moments as my uncle had a book he let me view with old photos of people in streets of Europe not seeing or even being interested in the man with the camera and so he could photograph them.

But he has rapid eye and finger also fast on the shutter button so he captured their images just when was the best moment to do so. From then I am interested in such and decide to also try to find these Moments.

However he has Leica and as you see I have Sakura box camera so I am not seeing in my viewfinder what is in my head as much as he is seeing in his.

He is the Frenchman Monsieur Henri Cartier-Bresson and I like his photographs very much. Sometimes I think they look very much like me and my friends when we used to play in the street. I was thinking then I would like to meet some of the people he is street photographing because I am in Japan and they are in Europe and even other places but we are all laughing at the same time and being happy with each other.

Because the book is printed in English and French I am still a little puzzled if 'Deciding Moment' or 'Decisive Moment' is correct and if there is any difference. But it can be either one I think as it does not affect the photographs because they are images not words and the brain looks at them with different eyes.

And his words being a Frenchman are actually "Images à la sauvette" in the book which my uncle looked up for me and his translating book says is either "Images on the Run" or "Images on the Sly" which I think means that he pretends not to take photographs so people keep being their natural selves and so when he does take a photograph it is of people being real and doing real things that they do without any posing for the artist or photographer. But he is not doing it in a bad way like spying on them but only so as to have true and real art of life in his photographs.

But I am also thinking maybe it could be "Images that are Jumping" because I remember a famous picture of a man jumping over a puddle from the book.

Ah, Izumi thinks she has much to learn but it is best not only to look at books but to go to the streets and such places and try to see with M Cartier-Bresson's eyes and mind, if not his camera.

When she was younger Izumi shoots with only one lens as her camera has only one such. M Cartier-Bresson shoots mostly with only one lens. Why this is Izumi does not know. Maybe he can only afford one lens for his Leica when he is not rich and he likes it so much that he keeps it that way. And a 50mm lens on his Leica I know is the same seeing as a person's eye so maybe he prefers his natural seeing and photographing to be the same. He was a very advanced man to be free-range photographing in the time that he lived.

But my uncle saw me properly interested in these things and for some birthday he got me a better camera so I could take photos better and better and he advised and very much helped me.

Even together then we were having trouble with finding this Moment but some of the photos I took made me very happy. (Is that the best word? Not Proud as I am not arrogant girl. Not Content as I still have much to learn. I shall look up dictionary.)

Let me tell you a funny story. When I was on holiday with my parents they called our car Kombi as that is its right name but not many were in Japan so people do not know the name as in Europe or other such place. But when my parents are talking to people they meet at places they say 'Kombi' and 'Izumi' and many people think I have a sister but when we are leaving they only see three of us in the car and sometimes they cry out as they think we forget her. We laugh and tell them my sister is really our car and they laugh too.

Now I must go away. But I will write again soon if you like and tell you if I take photographs.

Izumi.