Fashion Photography By Henri Cartier-Bresson (Video Part 2)
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) 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” style that has influenced generations of photographers that followed. Trained as a painter, he began his career in photography in 1931 on a trip to the Ivory Coast. He was one of the first photographers to shoot in the 35mm format with a Leica camera, and helped to develop the photojournalistic “street photography” style that influenced generations of photographers to come. It was there on the Côte d’Ivoire that he contracted blackwater fever, which nearly killed him. Returning to France, Cartier-Bresson recuperated in Marseille in 1931 and deepened his relationship with the Surrealists. He became inspired by a photograph by Hungarian photojournalist Martin Munkacsi artneutre.bitacoras.com Cartier-Bresson said: “The only thing which completely was an amazement to me and brought me to photography was the work of Munkacsi. When I saw the photograph of Munkacsi of the black kids running in a wave I couldn’t believe such a thing could be caught with the camera. I said damn it, I took my camera and went out into the street.” The photograph inspired him to stop painting and to take up fashion photography seriously. He explained, “I suddenly understood that a photograph could fix eternity in an instant.”
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26 Responses to “Fashion Photography By Henri Cartier-Bresson (Video Part 2)”
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thanks a lot!!
I have always enjoyed listening to Bresson’s interviews.
I want to be a photographer when I graduate, and I understand what he says, he is amazing.
Digital photography has killed the true meaning of photography. A digital photographer is not a photographer nor an artist. Bresson used film and was a photographer ad an artist.
With all due respect, I’m not sure that digital has killed photography, but rather it has brought an end to the era of classical photography. I work with ultra large format film cameras and I am aware that I am one of the last to do so. Over the past 60 years change in photography has concerned itself with convenience not quality, it’s a real shame.
Hey CD was going to kill vinyl records now it looks like the CD will be the first to say uncle.
I love my DSLR but I still like silver, and I think Henri would today be shooting a M8!
Does he weep at 5.58?
Bresson had no interest in the photographic process, and never developed or enlarged his negetives! It was the image he was after. I think he would have embraced digital photography.
Thanks for the series RangefinderGeneral… The most fascinating thing about this is that the Gare St. Lazare image (man jumping) which arguably the greatest image of the 21st century is taken without him looking through the viewfinder!!
what kind of camera did henri used?
kpkp93,
I think you must be kidding!!!!!????
OK here we go….
Leica he was one of the 1st photogs to use small format cameras, and owned 1 of the first copies of the then (1928-1930) new Leica 135 film format. famously he is supposed to have just used a 50mm lens for every thing he shot, but this is sadly not true he also used a small number of other lenses 35mm and 90mm mostly.
He stopped taking photos in 1975 returning to painting.
Leica M3.
That is a totally asinine statement.
a Leica with a 50mm lense
Ok yes a 50mm lens, there is a myth that he only used one lens, but one only has to look at his images to know that is not true.
My best guess is that stated above.
Yes he most certanly used a M3 at some point but he would have started with one of the first screw mount Leica’s. Most likely a II then III. The Leica M3 was introduced in 1954 so HCB would have been taking photos for thirty years by then!
20th Century Beboy!
Hey that’s almost funny?
Lol! You’re right. darn keyboard.
cool vid! when i took up photography and i was searching for the right photogapher to be my guide, i’ve choosen 2..one was philipe halsman and the other is HCB.
i became even more interested in photography bcuz of them both.
35mm,50mm and 90mm is considered complete at that age.
Thank you for posting this! It would be cool if more people knew about him. Especially in this digital age.
I like that one of most celebrated photographers of all time admits to the play of luck.
” It’s always luck”????? Sorry, Mr. HC-B. It’s not luck, it’s freakin’ genius.
An important writer about an important photographer.
i would love to use a film camera but unfortuntly its far too expensive
the way light reacts to film is so much more pleasing than with digital.
An amazing photographer and also a man of wise words.
What amazed me was this man, way advanced in age, but still with the demeanor and personality of a very young man – still quick and witty! A genius!!
Cartier-Bresson’s photographic gear was of limited importance. Yes, he used what was at the time a top-notch camera. But HOW he used it was more important. Whether he was photographing with a film or digital camera is meaningless. He would have used any tool to capture great photographs. Compared to our current cameras, he was photographing people with a brick. But his eye, curiosity, speed, vigilance, passion…these are what made his work great. And that can be true for any of us as photographers.