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Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Man, the Image and the World: A Retrospective
Henri Cartier-Bresson is one of the finest image makers of our time. Born in 1908, he studied painting before embarking on a career in photography in the 1930s. In 1940 he was captured by the Germans and spent three years in prisoner-of-war camps before escaping to join the Paris underground. With Robert Capa, David Seymour and others, he founded the photographic agency Magnum in 1947. Since then his work has taken him all over the world - from Europe to India, Burma, Pakistan, China, Japan, Indonesia, Bali, Russia, the Middle East, Cuba, Mexico, the United States and Canada. This new collection of work by Cartier-Bresson, created on the occasion of his ninety-fifth birthday, provides the ultimate retrospective look at a lifetime's achievement. It includes the first photographs taken by him, a significant number of which have never been published, rarely seen work from all periods of his life, classic photographs that have become icons of the medium, and a generous selection of drawings, paintings and film stills. The book also features personal souvenirs of Cartier-Bresson's youth, his family and the founding of Magnum. Cartier-Bresson's extraordinary images are shaped by an eye a
432 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 22, 2020
A career retrospective from a man who is undoubtedly one of the finest artists to pick up a camera. Cartier-Bresson seemed to have an almost preternatural gift for artful composition and enticing subjects and this book is absolutely filled with them. Unfortunately, Cartier always considered himself a manual artist first and foremost and gave up photography in the mid-70s to commit himself to pencil and paper. The work in this mold, a selection of which is showcased at the end, is honestly not remarkable. The lines are muddled, the likeness of nature something that must be squinted at and deciphered before it reveals the basic shapes. The portraits just look tired. And I feel quite bad saying this, because Cartier is an artist I truly respect and this seemed to be his life's true passion - but, of course, the thing he didn't really care for was the thing he was truly great at all along. He was a mediocre draftsman but had one of the most wonderfully keen eyes photography has ever known. His pictures are endlessly fascinating and if the book focused entirely on them, it'd be the easiest 5-star I've given all year.
February 21, 2022
Fine greatest hits book of often stunning black and white photography, plus some space given to illustrative work and filmography. Essays are pretty bland, but Director de la Musée Picasso—Jean Clair’s piece on the concept of Kairos is worth considering. Apropos of nothing I listened to Richard P. Havens, 1983 while reading this.
February 2, 2019
This is the largest and most complete collection of images by Cartier-Bresson I've seen. It includes not just photographs but drawings as well as some films clips. There's also a fair amount of text, certainly a must-see for fans of this artist's work.
August 15, 2010
A serious retrospective book on HCB; of course I would love it in principle. If you chance upon the book not knowing the photographer for sure, then do browse it, he is probably the greatest photographer ever.
Now regarding this as a book and what I wanted it to be, I was very disappointed. The texts are mostly irrelevant and somewhat pompous, there is hardly any context to photos apart from place (Sometimes misspelled "castel de san jorge" which does not say much for the erudition of the editors) and date and maybe a few explanations just a couple of photos, namely the very very famous photo of a woman recognizing the gestapo informer who denounced her. Almost no context to any particular photo. The organization of the book is frustrating is sort of thematic but some of the themes do not make much sense, photos taken 30 years apart and of very different moods are all mixed together just because they were taken in America. The format of the book itself is perhaps badly chosen, we all know HCB only used one format ratio for his photos, so picking a format for a book of his should be easy right? No, this is a odd ratio, so some of the large photos are spread over two pages and ruined by the slope of the binding. And it is a format which feels uncomfortable for photos of this ratio, there is a lot of dynamically wasted white space which of course is just wasted white space. The selections of what to print big I also found frustrating, if this was meant to be a retrospective they should not have been afraid to go with the obvious, sometimes some photos are very famous for a reason.
On personal taste, I would have preferred more of his early photos (any recommendations of books on his pre Magnum work?). There are 3 chapters on respectively his drawings, his movies and family snapshots, for anybody particularly interested in those. None of his color photos are included - I am mentioning those not because of their quality, but because they should probably be included on a retrospective. And are mentioned and portrayed in the smallest cheapest book on him we can find.
And most unforgivable of all, the printing is strange. Many photos are very blurry. I don´t know what is the condition of the negative now, or what it was then, but at least from memory, I think have seen some of these printed much more sharply.
I really do not recommend this. As an introduction and information source the little cheapie T&H book, which is the cheapest book on HCB around is much better. As a retrospective The Scrapbook, a facsimile of his work as selected by him is much more moving and coherent.
Now regarding this as a book and what I wanted it to be, I was very disappointed. The texts are mostly irrelevant and somewhat pompous, there is hardly any context to photos apart from place (Sometimes misspelled "castel de san jorge" which does not say much for the erudition of the editors) and date and maybe a few explanations just a couple of photos, namely the very very famous photo of a woman recognizing the gestapo informer who denounced her. Almost no context to any particular photo. The organization of the book is frustrating is sort of thematic but some of the themes do not make much sense, photos taken 30 years apart and of very different moods are all mixed together just because they were taken in America. The format of the book itself is perhaps badly chosen, we all know HCB only used one format ratio for his photos, so picking a format for a book of his should be easy right? No, this is a odd ratio, so some of the large photos are spread over two pages and ruined by the slope of the binding. And it is a format which feels uncomfortable for photos of this ratio, there is a lot of dynamically wasted white space which of course is just wasted white space. The selections of what to print big I also found frustrating, if this was meant to be a retrospective they should not have been afraid to go with the obvious, sometimes some photos are very famous for a reason.
On personal taste, I would have preferred more of his early photos (any recommendations of books on his pre Magnum work?). There are 3 chapters on respectively his drawings, his movies and family snapshots, for anybody particularly interested in those. None of his color photos are included - I am mentioning those not because of their quality, but because they should probably be included on a retrospective. And are mentioned and portrayed in the smallest cheapest book on him we can find.
And most unforgivable of all, the printing is strange. Many photos are very blurry. I don´t know what is the condition of the negative now, or what it was then, but at least from memory, I think have seen some of these printed much more sharply.
I really do not recommend this. As an introduction and information source the little cheapie T&H book, which is the cheapest book on HCB around is much better. As a retrospective The Scrapbook, a facsimile of his work as selected by him is much more moving and coherent.
August 28, 2011
This book was published in 2003 in conjunction with HCB's 95th birthday as a retrospective of his lifetime's work - including his work regarding film and drawing as well as photography. A handful of essays - mostly just applauding HCB more for what a great guy he is and admired artist. The last essay I felt said the most about his artistic philosophy and the contradiction at which he presents himself as photojournalist - stating in the 1970s that he never considered himself a good photojournalist or reporter. Obviously a flat-out lie or a bit of sarcasm on his part. Approximately 600 works are represented here - it's a pretty good-size book - about 400 pages. Even though there are some photographs here that supposedly have not been seen before, I've seen most of the works presented here. I do think if this is your first exposure to HCB - the reprints here of his work aren't that impressive. Some were too small and the arrangement was a bit jumbly. I preferred MoMA's recent catalogue from his exhibit last year, A Modern Century - which presented approximately 200 of his works. Still one of the greatest photographers ever - no matter what century you consider.
March 5, 2008
I am unabashedly not well versed in photography -- so take that for what it's worth.
This book was a recommendation by a Goodreader who knows I at least appreciate art and so I bought the book.
From what I can tell Cartier-Bresson is a master. The early 20th century should thank him for his work.
As I went through this book, I felt a pang of sadness at the first groupings of photos, wishing this artist had only captured my country. And so what a delight when I came to the second half of the book and saw his American work. Cartier-Bresson has the gift of capturing those human moments that define both a time and a place.
I love the arrangement of the photos by their sections and the life of Cartier-Bresson is well documented in this tome. My favorite is his French idyllic photographs and my absolute favorite is still Rue Mouffetard.
This is a treat.
This book was a recommendation by a Goodreader who knows I at least appreciate art and so I bought the book.
From what I can tell Cartier-Bresson is a master. The early 20th century should thank him for his work.
As I went through this book, I felt a pang of sadness at the first groupings of photos, wishing this artist had only captured my country. And so what a delight when I came to the second half of the book and saw his American work. Cartier-Bresson has the gift of capturing those human moments that define both a time and a place.
I love the arrangement of the photos by their sections and the life of Cartier-Bresson is well documented in this tome. My favorite is his French idyllic photographs and my absolute favorite is still Rue Mouffetard.
This is a treat.
January 20, 2008
Henri Cartier Bresson is one of my all time favs. I had a chance to see a retrospective of his work in Barcelona, Spain a few years ago which included Photographs, Plates, Life Mag covers, Drawings, and Films he did. More than 350 pieces of his work in addition to 100 images of other artists he chose as having the "Decisive Moment". My all time top Art Experience and it was FREE. I spent a total of 9 hours there at the museum in two days. Gotta love Spain.
October 23, 2011
This is ultimate coffee-table book, but not just for showing off. Evocative photography captures the 'definitive moment' in exquisite style. Some of my favourite photographs ever are in this retrospective collection, which is a wonderful way to while away a few hours and lose yourself in other worlds. This book actually fired up my love for HCB, leading me to take a special trip to the beautiful city of Edinburgh to view a retrospective in person - it was soooo worth it.
July 5, 2008
These are photographs you could spend your entire life looking at.
November 11, 2009
h c-b= hero.
February 20, 2011
the ultimate HCB book, lots of never before seen images.
December 28, 2012
A master of the photographic art.
April 25, 2013
His photographs are just beautiful. Candid and raw in all his works. I didn't realize how diverse he was and after reading the book, appreciate him even more as a an artist and photojournalist.
May 6, 2013
This is where I first saw the breadth, skill, and consistency of HCB's work.
August 30, 2014
An amazing collection of photography spanning Cartier Bresson's life. Very interesting commentary on the different stages of his life. Beautiful collection of photographs.
September 3, 2009
This man was an amazing photographer and a wonderful artist.
September 19, 2010
Helped in seeing!
June 16, 2014
An excellent retrospective of the man and key elements of his work.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews