Who is the practitioner and when were they practicing?
Henri Cartier Bresson (1908-2004) was a French photographer. He bought his first camera in 1931 and went on to pioneer the genre of street photography and photojournalism, viewing photography as capturing a decisive moment. Cartier-Bresson was one of the founding members of Magnum Photos in 1947 which was an organisation dedicated to chronicling world events, after the devastation of the second world war, and was named after the magnum-sized bottle of wine that the founders drank at each meeting.
“To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.” – Henri Cartier Bresson (1958)
What is the title of the photo you have chosen to analyse?
Title: Coronation of King George VI
Where: Trafalgar Square, London
When: 12th May, 1937
With the photo you are examining when was it produced?
This photo was produced at Trafalgar Square in London on the 12th of May 1937 at the Coronation of King George VI.
How was the photo authored?
Cartier-Bresson wandered around the world with his camera, becoming totally immersed in his current environment. As one of the major artists of the 20th century, he covered many of the world biggest events, including the coronation of King George VI as the picture above depicts.
In 1931, Cartier-Bresson purchased his first 35mm Leica, a small hand-held camera which defined the photographer’s work and Cartier-Bresson believed that all edits should be done when the image was authored. As this photo was taken in 1937, it is safe to assume he took this photo with his Leica.
Renowned for capturing the decisive moment, he didn’t have much interest in the event itself, so he kept his Leica trained on the crowds in Trafalgar Square. Many had gathered overnight so they didn’t miss the historic procession and the next morning, as the royal carriages approached, one man had slept on and Cartier-Bresson captured his blissful ignorance of the events happening around him. The resulting picture is said to mark a pivotal moment in British history: the abdication of King Edward VIII, the accession of his younger brother King George VI, and the uncertainty of war on the horizon.
How was the photo published?
This photo was taken on an analogue camera therefore it would’ve required a roll of film being loaded into the camera and when Cartier-Bresson took photos, the light interacted with the chemicals in the film and an image was recorded. 
He then would have taken his film and gotten it developed in a dark room. In the dark room, the film moves through a series of chemicals from developer, to stop bath and then fixer. This creates a film negative, which can have light shined through it in order to cast the photo onto light sensitive paper which creates a positive print. This photo was printed on a gelatine silver print.
How was the photo distributed?
This photo was first distributed when published by the popular French communist daily newspaper, Ce Soir, who were running a piece on the coronation in the papers illustrated weekly, Regards, and commissioned Cartier-Bresson to take photos of the event. Since then, it is safe to assume, as it was one of his earlier works, that it has circulated many exhibitions and more recently it can be found on the Magnum Photos website. At also appears to have been printed, with the approval from Cartier-Bresson, and actioned off for $27,500 on the website, Phillips.com.
References:
Adams, T., 2020. The Big Picture: A Comic Take On A Coronation By Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1937. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/mar/08/the-big-picture-henri-cartier-bresson-coronation-king-george-vi-1937-sleeping-man> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Biography. 2020. Henri Cartier-Bresson. [online] Available at: <https://www.biography.com/artist/henri-cartier-bresson> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Explain that Stuff. 2020. Film Cameras And 35Mm Photography – A Simple Introduction. [online] Available at: <https://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-film-cameras-work.html> [Accessed 17 May 2020].
Magnum Photos. 2020. Henri Cartier-Bresson • Photographer Profile • Magnum Photos. [online] Available at: <https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/henri-cartier-bresson/> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson. 2020. Biography – Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson. [online] Available at: <https://www.henricartierbresson.org/en/hcb/biography/> [Accessed 17 April 2020].