The Art of Photography, Snapshots by Henri Cartier-Bresson
Although he spent only a third of his time on Earth working as a photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson achieved a great deal in that time. He led a very interesting life that began with his birth in 1908. As part of an upper-middle class family, Cartier-Bresson spent time in both Paris and in Normandy during his childhood years. He received a basic education at the École Fénelon but learned conversational English from his governess, Miss Kitty. Henri Cartier-Bresson unsuccessfully studied music before turning his hand to art. He even received a Brownie camera as a child but it wasn’t until later that he discovered photography as an effective means of artistic expression. However, the death of his uncle, a gifted painter, during the First World War put a damper on his artistic studies.
Self-Portrait Henri Cartier-Bresson - 1960c. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
Despite the fact that his family ran a successful textile business, Cartier-Bresson was not inclined to follow in their footsteps. Fortunately, his family supported him. He subsequently studied at the Lhote Academy, where the main instructor attempted to get his students to meld traditional French style with more modern perspectives. Cartier-Bresson wasn’t really interested in following the rules imposed on him and began looked for other outlets to express his creativity. He eventually tried his hand at paintings in the Surrealistic style but was unsatisfied with his efforts and destroyed most of the results. From 1928 to 1929, Cartier-Bresson attended Cambridge where he studied art and literature. It was at this point that he also became fluent in the English language.
The years that followed saw Cartier-Bresson doing his duty as a conscript in the French Army. Even so, he ended up being put under house arrest for hunting without a license. Fortunately, an American expat and fellow photography enthusiast named Harry Cosby convinced Cartier-Bresson’s supervisor to release him for a few days. Crosby then brought his new acquaintance to his nearby estate and gave him a camera. However, for Cartier-Bresson the main attraction seemed to be the lady of the house, Caresse Crosby. Their affair lasted for about three years. When it ended, Cartier-Bresson felt he needed a change of scenery. He went off to Africa where he made his living as a game hunter. Unfortunately, Cartier-Bresson ended up nearly dying of blackwater fever, a disease that comes about as a complication from malaria.
PARIS—Photographers David Seymour, "Chim," (left) and Robert Capa, 1952. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
“For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. In order to give a “meaning” to the world, one has to feel involved in what one frames through the viewfinder. This attitude requires concentration, discipline of mind, sensitivity, and a sense of geometry. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.”
Once he’d recovered, Cartier-Bresson began to delve more seriously into photography and acquired a Leica camera to further this pursuit. He covered the small camera with black paint so that it was even harder for his subjects to see. Around this same period, Cartier-Bresson met Robert Capa and David Seymour, who would become his good friends. By 1935, he was in New York working on a photography exhibit. However, his experiences there led him to briefly try his hand at making movies. In 1937, he achieved his first breakthrough in the photojournalism world when his pictures of the crowds attending the royal coronations were published in Regards. Later that year, Cartier-Bresson married a dancer named Ratna Mohini, who was called Elie by her close companions. They lived together in Paris for some time. During this period, Cartier-Bresson made ends meet by working for the Ce Soir newspaper along with his friends Capa and Seymour.
Cartier-Bresson’s second photography book, “The Decisive Moment” (Images à la Sauvette) was published in 1952 once he’d returned to Europe. This work illustrated his ability to capture the split-second where an image was at its best. However, Cartier-Bresson was far more interested in showcasing moment than sprucing up the pictures he’d taken. Little if any editing work was done on the images. In fact, most of his photos show a black frame around them that is created by the negative itself. Cartier-Bresson often used the same cameras that he had been working with all his life but he would occasionally add new lens to his repertoire. He tested these devices by taking them to nearby parks so that he could photograph the ducks. Over his decades-long career as a photographer, Cartier-Bresson took thousands of images. Yet snapshots of the man himself are few since he valued his privacy and didn’t want his image plastered all over the place. Given this fact, it’s no wonder that he thought it was rude to use a flash camera on unsuspecting individuals.
Martine Franck, Italy, 1972 © Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos
Cartier-Bresson’s photography was shown at prestigious venues such as Paris’ Louvre Museum in 1954 and plenty of books were published containing his works. He nonetheless continued traveling to many different places around the world during the 1940s and 1950s. However, by 1966, he had resigned as a principal photographer for Magnum Photos even though he was still an occasional participant in their endeavors. In 1967, Cartier-Bresson and his wife Elie divorced after having been together for exactly thirty years. During that same period, Cartier-Bresson began to limit his use of photography and return to the more traditional forms of artwork that he had previously enjoyed.
In 1970, he remarried Martine Franck. She was much younger than he was but remained a good photographer in her own right. In fact, she was one of the few female members of his collective. Two years later, their daughter Melanie was born. By this point, Cartier-Bresson had largely quit taking pictures. Perhaps this was because his wife Martine felt that his reputation was overshadowing her own work or perhaps he simply wanted a new outlet. In any case, Cartier-Bresson received his last photographic award (Novecento Premio) in 1986. The entire family later came together in 2003 to create the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation so that his photographs would be preserved. Cartier-Bresson himself died in 2004 at the age of 95, only a few weeks before his 96th birthday after a life well-lived.
Sources: Wikipedia, Magnum Photos, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Images à la Sauvette Exhibition
If you are in Paris - from January 11 April 23, 2017, you should visit the Henri Cartier-Bresson, Images à la Sauvette exhibition organised by Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson (2, Impasse Lebouis, 75014 Paris)
Images à la Sauvette is the fruit of joined efforts of a famous art publisher, Tériade, a talented photographer, a painter at the peak of his career, Matisse, and two American publishers, Simon and Schuster. From his beginnings, Cartier‑Bresson considers the book as the outcome of his work. In the thirties, he met the publisher of Verve, Tériade, who he would later likely acknowledge to be his mentor. They plan, at the time, to carry out a book project on large cities rough areas together with Eli Lotar, Bill Brandt and Brassaï, but this ambitious project will never see the light of day.
Henri Cartier-Bresson: India in full frame
Henri Cartier-Bresson's photographs of India are displayed at The Rubin Museum of Art
Crowds gathered between Birla House and the cremation grounds on the Jumna River, during Gandhi’s funeral. Delhi, India. 1948. © Henri Cartier-Bresson | Magnum Photos
During six extended visits that Henri Cartier-Bresson made to India, first at the time of Independence, up until his most recent visit in 1987, he produced a body of work that reflected his love of and fascination with the country. The very best of these images are on show at the The Rubin Museum of Art in New York, in cooperation with Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris.
From: April 21, 2017
To: September 4, 2017
The Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th Street
New York, NY 10011
More info here.
“Henri Cartier-Bresson: India in Full-Frame” is organized by the Rubin Museum of Art in collaboration with Magnum Photos and the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation. Generous support is provided by The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, David Solo, an anonymous donor, and contributors to the 2017 Exhibitions Fund.
Henri Cartier-Bresson - Fine Art Original Prints
According to HCB Foundation: "Since Henri Cartier-Bresson’s death in 2004 and Martine Franck’s in 2012, none of the photographers’ prints have been produced for sale. Nevertheless, signed prints produced before their deaths regularly circulate amongst a variety of galleries and auction houses."
These galleries are offering Henri Cartier-Bresson prints for sale:
- Beetles & Huxley is a leading art gallery founded in London in 2010 by Chris Beetles and Giles Huxley-Parlour. The gallery’s vibrant exhibition programme focuses on artists working with photography who have played a significant role in the history of art, and those who continue to shape the field in the present day. Prints here.
Jackson Fine Art has a strong focus on contemporary photography while maintaining a blend of vintage and 20th century works. Selected prints are available here.
- Peter Fetterman. Born in London, Peter Fetterman has been involved with photography for over 30 years and holds one of the largest inventories of fine art photography. Selected prints here.
- Holden Luntz Gallery exhibits a dynamic range of vintage and contemporary fine art photography. The present gallery was founded in 1999 in Palm Beach, Florida with the mission of acquiring and presenting the work of significant artists whose work has either defined or is expanding the parameters of photography. Bresson's prints available here.
- ClampArt represents a wide range of emerging and mid-career artists of all media with a specialization in photography. Established in 2000, ClampArt is located in the Flower District in the Chelsea neighbourhood of Manhattan. Prints.
Scott Nichols Gallery is a fine art photography gallery located in downtown San Francisco. The gallery shows a combination of established, up and coming and contemporary photographers. Prints.
Contessa Gallery is a Fine Art Dealers Association Member (FADA), and a leading fine art gallery offering works of exceedingly high quality as well as art acquisition counsel to collectors, museums and institutions. Find the available works here.
Henri Cartier-Bresson - Selected Photographs
SPAIN. Madrid. 1933. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
SPAIN. Andalucia. Seville.1933. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
FRANCE. The Var department. Hyères. 1932. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
INDIA. Kashmir. Srinagar. Muslim women on the slopes of Hari Parbal Hill. 1948. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
MEXICO. Popocatepetl. Volcano. 1963. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
USA. Louisiana. New Orleans. US writer, Truman CAPOTE. 1947 © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
FRANCE. Bourgogne (Burgundy). Côte-d'Or. Billy-les-Chanceaux. 1955. The Seine river. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
FRANCE. Paris. Ile de la Cité. Square of the Vert Galant and Pont-Neuf. 1951. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
ITALY. French writer, Andre PIEYRE DE MANDIARGUES. 1933 © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
USA. Nevada. US actress Marilyn MONROE during the filming of "The Misfits" by John HUSTON. 1960. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
Henri Cartier Bresson - Selected Video Documentaries
Wonderful video where you can see how HCB behaves when shoot some photos...We love how him goes around and take shots with extreme naturalness!!!
