Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

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."

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!

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.