Henri Cartier-Bresson's amazing feat as a photographer is the ability to follow his heart and the keen vision of his mind and eye in each photograph. His subjects are only part of the image in the viewfinder, whose composition he sometimes arranges with geometric precision. Many of his best photographs also have startlingly broad political and sociological connotations, which gives the ordinary subjects extraordinary dignity, even grandeur. Europeans is filled with these images, which are often visually complex as well: a 1952 picture depicts a poor immigrant tilling hard ground while in the distance the prosperity-propelled factories of industry belch smoke into already smoggy skies. This is not just a picture of a poor man, or industrial power, or the contrast between the two. It's an open question about the meaning of life, with an anonymous no one--just another human being--at its center. Another wonderful image in this collection is a 1954 shot of a handsome soldier ogling two pretty women. It shows that even at the bleakest moments in their social history, Muscovites were not immune to pheromonal persuasion.
Review
"The photography of Henri Cartier-Bresson has resulted in a body of work unique in the history of this craft, not alone in kind but in quality. Apart from the fact that he is responsible for more individual memorable images than any other photographer in his epoch, his attitude toward his art . . . is based on a philosophy at once traditional, logical, and exemplary."--Lincoln Kirstein
Review
"The photography of Henri Cartier-Bresson has resulted in a body of work unique in the history of this craft, not alone in kind but in quality. Apart from the fact that he is responsible for more individual memorable images than any other photographer in his epoch, his attitude toward his art . . . is based on a philosophy at once traditional, logical, and exemplary."--Lincoln Kirstein
Book Description
Henri Cartier-Bresson reveals--as only a few great artists have done consistently--the richness, the sensibilities, and the varieties of the human experience in the twentieth century. This volume of Aperture's Masters of Photography series confirms the genius of the photographer whose pictures with the new, smaller hand-held cameras and faster films defined the idea of "the decisive moment" in photography.
Cartier-Bresson's imagery is intimate, but it is also utterly respectful of his subjects. In his wide travels throughout the world, he has captured universal meanings through the glimpses into the lives of individuals in scores of countries. Each photograph is in itself a masterpiece of dramatic form; taken together, Cartier-Bresson's works constitute a personal history of epic scope.
Henri Cartier-Bresson presents forty-two of the artist's photographs, each recognized a a masterpiece of the medium. In addition, Cartier-Bresson offers a brief statement of his own artistic ethos, his striving for the spontaneity through intuition that imbues his work.
Language Notes
Text: French
About the Author
Born in Chanteloup, France, in 1908, Henri Cartier-Bresson studied painting and literature until 1930, when he began his career in photography. His work has appeared in hundreds of publications and in museums and galleries around the world. His awards include four from the Overseas Press Club. Since 1973 he has concentrated on drawing.
Henri Cartier-Bresson ANNOTATION
A selection of the photographer's greatest images. "For me the camera is a sketchbook, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity." Henri Cartier-Bresson
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Henri Cartier-Bresson reveals--as only a few great artists have done consistently--the richness, the sensibilities, and the varieties of the human experience in the twentieth century. This volume of Aperture's Masters of Photography series confirms the genius of the photographer whose pictures with the new, smaller hand-held cameras and faster films defined the idea of "the decisive moment" in photography.
Cartier-Bresson's imagery is intimate, but it is also utterly respectful of his subjects. In his wide travels throughout the world, he has captured universal meanings through the glimpses into the lives of individuals in scores of countries. Each photograph is in itself a masterpiece of dramatic form; taken together, Cartier-Bresson's works constitute a personal history of epic scope.
Henri Cartier-Bresson presents forty-two of the artist's photographs, each recognized a a masterpiece of the medium. In addition, Cartier-Bresson offers a brief statement of his own artistic ethos, his striving for the spontaneity through intuition that imbues his work.
Art & Photography
Book Info
