Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Thoughts On Flash Street Photography

Without going into a natural light versus artificial light debate I wanted to share something I came across while reading Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Mind’s Eye.  As you may or may not know, Cartier-Bresson is considered the father of Photojournalism and I can’t think of a name more synonymous with Street Photography than his.  Anyways, here is an excerpt I thought was interesting in regards to using flash in Street Photography:

“And no photographs taken with the aid of flash-light either, if only out of respect of the actual light – even when there isn’t any of it.  Unless a photographer observes conditions as these, he may become an intolerably aggressive character.”

– Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Mind’s Eye, (p.28)

I would love to hear how Bruce Gilden (a popular Street Photographer who relies heavily on flash) would describe the use of flash in Street Photography.  What are your thoughts?  Does flash Street Photography make one “intolerably aggressive”?