Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)

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Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)

• (äNre kärtea-bresôN)
• Born in France in 1908
• Considered the father of modern photojournalism
• Most famous book was The Decisive Moment,
  published in 1952
• Cover drawn by Matisse

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Portrait of the late photographer, Henri
Cartier-Bresson. Photograph by Martine Franck
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• Co-founded Magnum photo agency in 1947 with group
  of other photographers
• Shot for Life and other prominent magazines
• Liked to print negatives with black borders to
  show they had been cropped in camera
• Retired in early 1970s

Photo of Fidel Castro for Life cover.
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Henri Cartier-Bresson seen in 1972 in
Forcalquier, the Alpes de Haute-Provence, France,
Photo by Martine Franck
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The Decisive Moment

• The simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a
  second, of the significance of an event as well
  as the precise organization of forms which gives
  that event its proper expression.
• Henry Cartier Bresson

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Henri Cartier-Bresson Behind the Gare St. Lazare,
1932
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London, 1938. The people had waited all night at
Trafalgar Swuare in order not to miss any part of
the coronation ceremony of George VI. Some sat on
benches and on newspapers. The next morning, one
wearier than the others had not yet wakened to
see the ceremony for which he had kept such a
late vigil.
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London, 1938. Waiting in Trafalgar Square for the
coronation parade of King George VI.
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A family picnic by the River Marne, France 1938
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Madrid, Spain, 1933
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Seville, Spain, 1933
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Hasidic Jews in Jerusalem Henri Cartier-Bresson,
1967
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The "boy with the bottles" in Rue Mouffetard,
Paris, 1954. / Henri Cartier-Bresson
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Barrio chino, Barcelona, 1933. The narrow street
of Barcelonas roughest quarter is the home of
prostitutes, petty thieves and dope peddlers. But
I saw a fruit vendor sleeping against a wall in
the narrow street and was struck by the
surprisingly gentle and articulate drawing
scrawled there. - Henri Cartier-Bresson, The
Decisive Moment
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Dessau, Germany, 1945. In a camp of displaced
persons waiting for repatriation, Gestapo
informer who had pretended to be a refugee is
discovered and exposed by a camp inmate whose
face is illuminated by the strong, sharp light of
rage.
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Queen Charlotte's Ball, London, 1959. / Henri
Cartier-Bresson
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Brie, France, 1968. / Henri Cartier-Bresson
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Blurred bike. Henri Cartier - Bresson, (Hyères),
France 1932
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Henri Cartier-Bresson, (Siphnos), Greece 1961
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Georg Eisler, 1993
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Truman Capote in New Orleans, 1947
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Cape Cod, Mass., 1947. It was the Fourth of July
and this woman explained to me that the flagpole
over her door was broken but, on such a day as
this, one keeps ones flag over ones heart.
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Robert Oppenheimer, 1958
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John Houston, 1946. / Henri Cartier-Bresson
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Henri Carier-Bresson, (Henri Matisse), Vence,
France, 1944
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Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues, 1933
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Andre Pieyre de Mandiarques, 1991
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Prostitutes in Mexico City, 1934
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Martin Luther King, 1961
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West Point cadets and their admiring young ladies
attend the Army vs. Notre Dame game. New York,
1947
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A mother waited, and searched the faces of
hundreds of disembarking refugees -- and finally
found the son she had not seen throughout the
war. New York, 1946.
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In the late summer the unemployed fill the
benches of the square with their old hats on,
their collars close around their necks as though
they sense the beginning of autumn and the coming
of winter. They read the want ads, the sports
pages, the illustrated magazines -- and resassure
themselves, perhaps, that there is some comfort,
some hope, in reality.
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Montmartre, Paris, 1938. Cardinal Pacelli
visited, and the throngs were outside of
Sacre-Coeur to see him, to tough him if possible.
The people were Shouting Vive Dieu.
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Rumania, 1975.
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Brussels, 1932
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A bridal pair at a café on the Marne which is
part bistro, part garden. The two were here for
the entire afternoon with a full wedding part
which included uncles, aunts and small children
of the family. Joinville-le-Pont, near Paris,
1938.
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A peasant funeral. According to custom, the
priest who officiates at the entire ceremony
leaves the group halfway to the burial ground.
Only the bearers and mourners accompany the body
up the hillside. Lucania, Southern Italy, 1952
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Peking, 1949. A eunuch of the imperial court of
the last dynasty.
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During the last days of the Kuomintang supremacy,
the currency was failing and the government put
gold on the market. People rushed to all the
banks in the city and pushed and crowded those
who had got there before them. Seven people died
in the crushing of the crowds. Shanghai, 1948
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There is an idleness and despair where people are
gathered without homes. At Kurukshetra camp they
were given simple gymnastics to distract them, to
work off their energies. Punjab, India, 1947
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Moslem women on the slopes of Hari Parbal Hill in
Srinagar, pray toward the sun rising behind the
Himalayas. Kashmir, 1948
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The second Maharajah of Baroda in her palace. The
diamonds once belonged to Napoleon. Baroda,
India, 1948
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On the thirty-ninth birthday of his Highness the
Maharajah of Baroda, sugar balls are distributed
to the poor. Baroda, India, 1948
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Peasants at a cotton market. Jaipur, India, 1948
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Moslem working women. Jaipur, India, 1948
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The Death House, a hotel to which people retire
when they feel they are going to die. Downstairs
a funeral ceremony is being performed which
arouses the curiosity of passers-by. Singapore,
1940
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A Taoist priest performing funeral music in the
Death House. It is felt most important that there
be a proper tribute for death. People who feel it
coming come here to wait for it, ceremonies for
funerals take place downstairs, and upstairs in
dormitories lie the waiting ones.
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Upstairs in The Death House the various inmates
patiently wait for their turn to die. Some of
them have been there for as long as two years.
Singapore, 1949
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The last fast of Gandhi. He lies there while
members of the crowd pass him in silence in a
serious flow, touch hands together in signs of
respect. Delhi, 1948
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The first flame of Gandhis funeral pyre. His
secretary looks into the flames his doctor holds
up his hands hoping to quiet the crowd but as
the pyre burned brighter, the people seemed to be
on fire too -- and they surged forward in a great
crushing movement, throwing themselves toward the
pyre. Delhi, 1948
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Crowds lined the railroad tracks for an
opportunity of paying homage to Gandhi. Delhi,
1948