A movement, a glance, and a composition coming together for only a fraction of a second: few photographers knew when to press the shutter as instinctively as Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004). His idea of the decisive moment made him one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century.
Henri Cartier-Bresson: Here and Now, however, shows that his significance extends well beyond that one famous concept. This extensive monograph traces his development as a photographer, artist, journalist, and politically engaged observer.
Alongside well-known photographs, the book includes rarely seen and previously unpublished work. The color photographs are particularly striking. Cartier-Bresson is associated almost entirely with black and white, so these images reveal a less familiar side of his oeuvre.
The Human Side of History
Cartier-Bresson photographed art, politics, revolutions, and wars, yet he remained primarily interested in individual people. Whether poor or wealthy, famous or unknown, his subjects are rarely reduced to illustrations of a larger event. He observed postures, gestures, and relationships, often conveying more through them than an extensive report could.
His travels took him from Paris and Africa to countries where poverty, political unrest, and revolution shaped everyday life. Those experiences informed his photojournalism and contributed to the founding of Magnum Photos, the photographers’ cooperative he established in 1947 with Robert Capa, George Rodger, and David Seymour.
Cartier-Bresson also created penetrating portraits of prominent artists, writers, and politicians. His ability to recognize both major historical developments and small human moments earned him the nickname the eye of the century.
More Than a Photographer
Before committing himself fully to photography, Cartier-Bresson was deeply involved with painting and Surrealism. That background remained visible in his feel for geometry, chance, and unexpected connections. Even when working quickly in the street, lines, people, and movements seem to fall precisely into place.
The approximately five hundred images in Here and Now demonstrate the breadth of his work. The book is therefore not only an overview of an exceptional photographic career, but also a visual narrative about politics, war, labor, and everyday life in the twentieth century.
The book was edited by Clément Chéroux, Alain Seban, and Serge Toubiana. Chéroux is director of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris and previously held senior curatorial positions in photography at the Centre Pompidou, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Henri Cartier-Bresson: Here and Now – Clément Chéroux, Alain Seban, and Serge Toubiana
Pages: 392
Images: approximately 500
Format: hardcover
Language: English
Price: €77.99
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 9780500298015
