Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) is one of the most influential and beloved figures in the history of photography. His inventive work of the early 1930s helped define the creative potential of modern photography. Following World War II, he helped found the Magnum photo agency, which enabled photojournalists to reach a broad audience through magazines such as Life while retaining control over their work. Cartier-Bresson would go on to produce major bodies of photographic reportage, capturing such events as China during the revolution, the Soviet Union after Stalin's death, the United States in the postwar boom and Europe as its older cultures confronted modern realities. Published to accompany an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, this is the first major publication to make full use of the extensive holdings of the Fondation Cartier-Bresson-including thousands of prints and a vast resource of documents relating to the photographer's life and work. The heart of the book surveys Cartier-Bresson's career through 300 photographs divided into 12 chapters. While many of his most famous pictures are included, a great number of images will be unfamiliar even to specialists. A wide-ranging essay by Peter Galassi, Chief Curator of Photography at the Museum, offers an entirely new understanding of Cartier-Bresson's extraordinary career and its overlapping contexts of journalism and art. The extensive supporting material-featuring detailed chronologies of the photographer's professional travels and of spreads of his picture stories as they appeared in magazines-will revolutionize the study of Cartier-Bresson's work.
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Henri Cartier-Bresson (August 22, 1908 - August 3, 2004) is perhaps the greatest photographer of the twentieth century. In a career spanning over sixty years, he has used his camera as an impassive and neutral third eye to capture the vagaries of human behaviour and to produce some of the most memorable and compelling photographs ever published.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) was to photography what the Impressionists were to painting. Those breakthrough artists grasped that the latest innovation in technology--pre-mixed paints, packaged in tubes--allowed them to go outside their studios and chronicle the life they found there. In much the same way, Cartier-Bresson rejected the heavy studio-based camera, covered the shiny lens of a lightweight Nikon with black tape so his subjects would be less inclined to notice him, and took to the streets.
What he invented there was, essentially, photojournalism.
He shot and shot and shot some more, looking for "the decisive moment" that revealed its subject and maybe much more. When he found it, he turned his film over to the lab--he had no interest in printing, less in cropping.
The show includes his revealing portraits of Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, Picasso, Colette, Matisse, Pound and Giacometti. But the decisive moment did not necessarily mean photographing Personages and Celebrities. In 1937, he was assigned to shoot the coronation of King George VI. He took not a single shot of the king. His subjects? The king's subjects, who filled the streets to cheer their new monarch.
Cartier-Bresson's photographs of civilians are body blows. Look at the picture on the cover of Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century--a mother-and-son reunion at the end of World War II. No one shot post-war conflict like Cartier-Bresson. Kids playing games amidst rubble. The denunciation of a woman accused of collaborating with the Germans. Mourners during the Algerian conflict.
For 30 years, Cartier-Bresson was everywhere. In Shanghai, during a run on the banks. In India, to take some of the last pictures of Gandhi--and, from close-up, his funeral pyre.
What especially dazzles is the clarity of his images. Women on a hilltop in Pakistan in 1949 hold their hands in prayer, their feet echoing the line of the distant mountains. A bicyclist makes a turn at the bottom of a curving staircase. A man slips over a puddle, his image reflected in the water.
Simple stuff. An eight-year-old can grasp the ideas and be excited by them. And adults can have their visual palettes refreshed, the better to see, as Cartier-Bresson did, "eternity in an instant."
What he invented there was, essentially, photojournalism.
He shot and shot and shot some more, looking for "the decisive moment" that revealed its subject and maybe much more. When he found it, he turned his film over to the lab--he had no interest in printing, less in cropping.
The show includes his revealing portraits of Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, Picasso, Colette, Matisse, Pound and Giacometti. But the decisive moment did not necessarily mean photographing Personages and Celebrities. In 1937, he was assigned to shoot the coronation of King George VI. He took not a single shot of the king. His subjects? The king's subjects, who filled the streets to cheer their new monarch.
Cartier-Bresson's photographs of civilians are body blows. Look at the picture on the cover of Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century--a mother-and-son reunion at the end of World War II. No one shot post-war conflict like Cartier-Bresson. Kids playing games amidst rubble. The denunciation of a woman accused of collaborating with the Germans. Mourners during the Algerian conflict.
For 30 years, Cartier-Bresson was everywhere. In Shanghai, during a run on the banks. In India, to take some of the last pictures of Gandhi--and, from close-up, his funeral pyre.
What especially dazzles is the clarity of his images. Women on a hilltop in Pakistan in 1949 hold their hands in prayer, their feet echoing the line of the distant mountains. A bicyclist makes a turn at the bottom of a curving staircase. A man slips over a puddle, his image reflected in the water.
Simple stuff. An eight-year-old can grasp the ideas and be excited by them. And adults can have their visual palettes refreshed, the better to see, as Cartier-Bresson did, "eternity in an instant."
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Fist of all, see the exhibit at MOMA (NYC) if you can -- it closes June 28. This is a major retrospective arguably the most influential and formally perfect of all photographers, and this exhibit allows you to step through his life via the work.
Cartier-Bresson was a master this book provides a beautiful overview of both "greatest hits" and previously unpublished images. Many of the lesser-known images are revelations, such as the post-war dockside reunion pictured on the cover.
Print quality and binding are excellent, and the essay by Peter Galassi sets the life in the context of his painterly aspirations, Magnum colleagues, and working methods.
Highest recommendation!
Cartier-Bresson was a master this book provides a beautiful overview of both "greatest hits" and previously unpublished images. Many of the lesser-known images are revelations, such as the post-war dockside reunion pictured on the cover.
Print quality and binding are excellent, and the essay by Peter Galassi sets the life in the context of his painterly aspirations, Magnum colleagues, and working methods.
Highest recommendation!
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I saw an exhibit of Cartier-Bresson's work a few months back at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, but instead of purchasing the book at the museum, decided to order it from amazon.com. I got a brand new copy (wrapped) and saved approximately $15 (of what it would have cost me at the museum shop!) The book arrived very quickly. It is absolutely beautiful. The reproduction of these stunning photographs by this world-renowned photographer is incredibly well-done and it is a wonderful book to own and to share with anyone who appreciates good photography. Or just appreciates the moments in a lifetime, because this is what Cartier-Bresson captures...little moments, big moments but mostly moments when his subjects were not even aware they were being photographed. There are photos from all over the world and spanning many decades, some celebrities, but lots of ordinary men, women and children as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in photography and art. You will be mesmerized by his work.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Quality Content But Horrible Presentation
I've looked through this book numerous times and always found it a pleasure to read. It gives a great insight into Bresson's world and it displays some of his best work. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Zen
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best selection
Just to be short, I am not a big fan of Cartier-Bresson. In my eyes, he is the Picasso of photography, good, but a little bit dated. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Marco Paoluzzo
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazing Anthology of Cartier-Bresson's Work.
For those of you who couldn't make it to last year's exhibition at MOMA this is the next best thing. It is a solid anthology of one of the world's greatest photographers. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Jia Y., Liu
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Overview for a Famous Photographer
This book combines biographical information with photographs from the current traveling exhibition of Henri Cartier-Bresson's work. Read more
Published on October 10, 2010 by John Chulick
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lovely book, good price, shipping.prompt
Beautiful book, good price, shipping.prompt Saw the exhibit at MOMA and had to have it!
Published on July 14, 2010 by Stan Fellenbaum
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful book
I do love books and are a little worried because of the new e-books, specially having a small book store, but books like this will not disappear, they are too beautiful. Read more
Published on June 7, 2010 by Rodolfo Rios-Zertuche
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Greats
MOMA does an excellent job in creating this catalog tome for the Cartier-Bresson exhibit. Excellent reproduction of the images on tour, with additional editorial commentary on... Read more
Published on May 29, 2010 by V
3.0 out of 5 stars
A look into the camera
This MOMA coffee table book is large and heavy and yes for those; like the poor soul that looked at it with me, the photos are all in black and white. Read more
Published on May 11, 2010 by wogan
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Master at work
This is a great overview of some of the most significant work of Henri Cartier-Bresson. The narrative and overview of his life adds valuable information to the life of this... Read more
Published on April 13, 2010 by F. Roosevelt
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