Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Man, The Image & The World: A Retrospective

Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Man, The Image & The World: A Retrospective | Peter Galassi, Jean Clair, ... | This book is amazing!

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Henri Cartier-Bres...

	Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Man, The Image & The World: A Retrospective Peter Galassi, Jean Clair, ... Thames & Hudson, 2006 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"A definitive catalogue?.Once Cartier-Bresson photographed something or someone, you might as well have retired them as subjects."?Newsweek

Henri Cartier-Bresson was one of the finest image makers of our time. His extraordinary photographs were shaped by an eye and a mind legendary for their intelligent empathy and for their unerring ability to get to the heart of the matter.

This sumptuous collection of work by Cartier-Bresson is the ultimate look at his achievements. The book brims with classic photographs that have become icons of the medium, as well as rarely seen work from all periods of Cartier-Bresson's life, including a number of previously unpublished photographs and a generous selection of drawings, paintings, and film stills. The book also features telling personal souvenirs of his youth, his family, and the founding of Magnum.

This definitive collection of a master photographer's work will be an essential book for anyone interested in photography?indeed, for anyone interested in the people, places, and events of the past century. 600+ illustrations in color and duotone.

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A must if HCB is your cup of tea!

I put off buying this book as long as I could and eventually I did, having in the meantime manhandled book store copies. It is difficult to get too much HCB and this offers a lot in one package.

I take minor exception to HCB as elevating photography to art -- he is more often described as someone who turned his hobby into an art form, albeit it was a hobby informed by artisitic sensibility. The incomparable Eastman House in Rochester has examples that go back to the earliest days of photography as art. But the 20th century was crowded with photographic art. HCB's eminence in the PostWar recognition of Photography as Art by such places as MOMA is a given. (he preferred the small a).

The number of photographs included is for me in this book is an asset, providing a broad look at the stupendous body of work done by HCB during his long career.

In the 1950s and early 60s, the greatest influence on young photojournalists came from "This Is War" by David Douglas Duncan, published in 1951 and "The Decisive Moment" in 1952, which took its title from HCB's text. The Verve edition used a different title, i.e. "Images à la sauvette" which translates to "pictures on the run."

Robert Capa suggested to HCB that he call himself a photojournalist and later the two would join in forming Magnum, the first and greatest photo agency. From that came the inaccurate sometime sobriquet of " Father of Photojounalism."

HCB's work received the earliest important recognition from Americans and his exhibitions and books always received a warm reception. Had he been an American, his political views might have ensnared him in the hysteria of the 50s.His individual perspective was as strong as one might expect from someone who spent three years in a Nazi prison. After the war's bitter experiene, HCB's work became much more humanist.

In France his acceptance as an artist does not fully reflect the merits of his work. The US has accepted the work of HCB and Eugene Atget at a level that the French art establishment did not -- although he did have support that matters. One reason cited is that HCB objected to the "fetishistic attitude" toward original prints.

HCB's darkroom work was done by skilled technicians. Berenice Abbot promoted the merit of Atget's work with her own prints from the thousands of negatives she brought back to the US.

That is a point on which HCB was entirely right. Some earlier vintage prints of his work is not all that good. HCB recognized that for his genre, a skilled darkroom craftsman could both satisfy his esthetic judgments and replicate his work over and over. What he could control was how many "authorized" images there were.

A gigantic HCB exhiition at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France several years ago was pectacular -- the BNF chosen because it would gladly work with HCB and his wife. That was a rare opportunity that had to be taken. You don't think much about the print, but rather what an eye HCB has for the moment.

There are certainly photographers who marry their eye to theirr work in the darkroom. HCB did not see it that way.

This book is perfect for me, but others less familiar with HCB's work might be better off with one of his books on a theme, e.g. Paris, etc.

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This book is amazing!

A great retrospective of his incredible photography. I just got it for Xmas and LOVE it!

Creo que el mejor libro de Cartier Bresson

Fantástico libro de fotografías que recoge muchas de sus épocas como fotógrafo.
Fotos de Barcelona,Madrid,Valencia,Paris.Berlin....
Una auténtica maravilla.
Si te gusta la fotografía,no debes dejar escapar este libro

The overview or cyclopaedia of this master. Buy it!

I admire and love Henri Cartier-Bresson so much, the master not only in Photography, but also in the history of humanity. I believe in Buddhism so much. And So does Cartier-Bresson.

Cartier-Bresson spread his humanity and the love of the life to the whole world during not only the past 100 years, but also the years we will have.

Photography is just a kind of art to normal an artist. To Cartier-Bresson, it is the artless art.

Regarding this book, it is my first one about Cartier-Bresson, and I decide to buy more after I enjoyed this book.

If you are new to Cartier-Bresson, buy this one without hesitation. You will fall in love with the master just as I did.

If you know well about Cartier-Bresson, buy this one also. It is an overview of the master. You can get the information you need just in one book.

If you are an adorer of Cartier-Bresson, buy this one as a must. Do not need to say why, because it is about Henri Cartier-Bresson.

All in all, buy this book. Read, feel, and enjoy. Not only the photography, but also the life.

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Poor quality reproduction of photographs

The book is a testimony to the capabilities of Henri Cartier-Bresson as a photographer. With limited equipment, a camera and only one lens, he managed to capture an amazing range of emotions and phenomenon. Cartier-Bresson's work, which is amply documented in this book, also provides an example of "available light" photography.

My one complaint is the quality of reproduction of the photos is somewhat poor, though I am not sure whether this could have been remedied by the publishers

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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