Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographer

by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Yves Bonnefoy

For more than 45 years, Henri Cartier-Bresson's camera has glorified the decisive moment in images of unique beauty and lyrical compassion. From the cities of war-torn Europe to the rural landscape of the American South, this retrospective volume shows the lifework of a legendary photographer. 155 duotone illustrations.

Genres: Photography, Art, France, Nonfiction, Reference

338 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism, an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography. He helped develop the "street photography" or "real life reportage" style that has influenced generations of photographers that followed.

Reviews

[Steven Godin]

Great book. The photography is just wow!

[Leonard]

I've always liked the photos of Cartier-Bresson and have looked at them many times before. He had an excellent eye for composition and shot his pictures in black and white which is becoming a nearly neglected art form in this digital age. The only captions to most of these images is the location and date of the photograph. The viewer is given the gift of interpreting the image, which I think, increases it's artistic value. Like the work of every artist and photographer, some of these images are stronger than others. But the strong ones will be with us forever.

[Bradley Hanson]

THE ORIGINAL photojournalist, a master of composition, and the biggest influence on how I view photography and the world in general. If you want to see gorgeous compositions made at the speed of life with a 50mm lens, this is all the inspiration you will ever need. Every time I look at his work I am humbled and I learn something.

[Kevin Bjorke]

This is a catalog from the ICP's 1979 super-show of Cartier-Bresson.

If you like HCB, this is a great book, I think it's a super-set of all the photos from his famous Images la Sauvette" -- at a price far far lower than the famous one (often over $1000 these days, while my copy of this book set me back $5)

[Di]

"To take a photograph is to recognize a fact in a split second, and to organize with rigor visually perceived forms which express and signify it. It means lining up brain, eye, and heart for the purpose of taking aim at the target."
- Henri Cartier-Bresson, page 9

[Mary]

4 stelline solo perché mi sarebbe piaciuto un commento o un saggio introduttivo un po' più approfondito.

[Bacon]

Brilliant

[Vytautas Baipsys]

foto

[John Anderson]

Plates

[Brent Chiu-Watson]

Great photography. Books could have used some additional structure to align with his journey.

[Gijs Limonard]

Exploring the classics in photography; feast your eyes on these works of art; not all masterpieces but plenty to go around to get you inspired. Many of these collections are long out of print; check out the Internet Archive (https://archive.org); many of the timeless classics are made freely available or after signing up, free to (digitally) borrow.

[Adam]

Wonderful coffee table book celebrating some of the best and most iconic photographs of Cartier-Bresson. With these types of books often the issue is that wide prints can be spread across two pages, ruining the effect, or tall prints are too compact. This large, square book tackles both of those issues and as a result makes a great presentation of the work.

[Sumit]

Need to own this book. While looking at some initial his pictures it feels he might have got lucky with this shot, but then you keep flipping pages after pages and then you know that this person is a genius observer.

[Rebecca Harrison]

My favourite Photographer.

[Yury]

Good prints of the great photo artist. This book is heavy, so heavy is pleasure from seeing images.

[Oh Ana]

The best photographer ever! Ever and ever...