Hyères, France

A blurred cyclist rushes across the bottom of the frame while a spiral staircase and its curling iron railing tumble down toward the cobblestones. Henri Cartier-Bresson made this black and white photograph in the southern French town of Hyères in 1932, and it went on to become one of his signature pictures. The sweeping curve of the banister echoes the speed of the rider, so your gaze follows the same twisting path he does, as if the whole scene were caught mid-spin.

Cartier-Bresson believed in what he called "the decisive moment," the belief that a split second could hold an entire story if you were quick enough to catch it. He shot with a small handheld camera and almost never trimmed his photos afterward, trusting himself to frame everything perfectly right as he pressed the button. The staircase and railing give the image its firm structure, while the fleeting figure adds life and chance, a lucky bit of timing that transformed an everyday street corner into something quietly unforgettable.