Henri Cartier Bresson strikes again

parisdiaBooks, Photography2 Comments

Joinville-le-Pont, near Paris. 1938. “A newly-wed bride and groom at an outdoor café on the Marne. The couple were here for the entire afternoon with a full wedding.”© Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

“Images à la sauvette”, or “The Decisive Moment”, as it is known in the United States, is a book published in October 1952 by Simon and Schuster, which changed the course of Henri Cartier Bresson‘s life and dramatically influenced the art world. Henri Matisse designed the cover two years before he died, Teriade, the French publisher edited the book. The title in French alludes to little street robbers (voleur à la sauvette) and enhances the quality of instantaneous shots by the photographer. Vintage prints from the book are shown at Fondation Henri Cartier Bresson in Montparnasse until April 23.

Shanghai, December 1948-January 1949. As the value of the paper money sank, the Kuomintang decided to distribute 40 grams of gold per person. Thousands came out and waited in line for hours. Ten people were crushed to death.© Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

As one of the creators of the reportage style, Henri Cartier Bresson (1908-2004), cofounder of the Magnum agency five years earlier,  delivers in this book his inner self, intimate pictures and profound portraits of writers such as Faulkner or Truman Capote as well as street scenes or public trials and royal events.

Truman Capote, New Orleans, July 1946 © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

The book comes out after his three year travelling to Asia. Robert Capa called it “A Photographer’s bible”. And Cartier Bresson aknowledges the influence that films such as “Potemkine” by Eisenstein or Griffith’s “The Mistery of New York” had on his eye. But the greatest shock was the Leica camera bought in 1932, which he calls the prolongation of his eye. It lead him to walking all day in the streets, looking for images that he instantaneously captured.

Henri Cartier-Bresson Images à la Sauvette (Verve, 1952), p. 29-30 Espagne et Maroc espagnol,1933 © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

The show consists of 80 images neatly hung on the two stories of the small building located in Montparnasse. It is meticulous and modest with small size vintage prints.
Scenes from Mexico and Bali, many pictures shot in America in the 30’s and 1946, but also pollution in Beijing in 1948 and Shanghai scenes, or gestapo members being interrogated in Dessau in 1945. Both Cartier Bresson’s journalistic technic and his strong artistic talent show in this collection of black and white shots.

Mexico, State of Oaxaca, Tehuantepec, 1934.© Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

One interesting series is that of the crowning ceremonies of George VI in London in 1937, where the king is never shown, only the crowds and the street scenes evoke the event.
Cartier Bresson, whom I met at the end of his life, was a gentleman reporter with insatiable curiosity and a great sense of humor. When I offered to give him a ride home after a dinner party, he aggressively asked me if I was a photographer and had a favor to ask? and ended up inviting me for a late night cap at his fifth floor apartment on the Tuileries where he showed me his drawings. A true passion in his later life.

His images are whimsical and you leave the Foundation feeling happier and lighter in the heart! (Fondation Henri Cartier Bresson, Impasse Lebouis, until April 23, the facsimile of the book can be acquired for 75$, the orignal version for 1 200€)

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2 Comments on “Henri Cartier Bresson strikes again”

  1. Bon choix de photos de cette admirable expo !
    Bientôt tu viendras dans mon quartier… car Agnès Sire a choisi un immeuble, rue des Archives, pour y installer la Fondation Cartier Bresson.

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