Henri Cartier-Bresson Research Paper

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson is to be considered one of the world’s major photographers of the 20 century. (Biography Channel “Henri Cartier-Bresson) He was born on August 22, 1908 in Chanteloupe, France. He grew up in a wealthy family in Paris, France. At a young age, he grew to love painting. In 1927, he went to the Lhote Acamedy to study painting under Cubist painter and sculptor, Andre Lhote. In 1928 he changed his studies to Literature and Arts and attended University of Cambridge. Once he finished his schooling he had to do his mandatory two year service in the French military. After the military he went to Africa where he found his passion for photography. During his stay in Africa he hunted and fished. To make money,
he sold his hunting and fishing game to local villages. In 1931 he returned to Marseille, France and found an unexpected inspiration from a photograph of 3 little African boys playing by a lake. The photograph is called “Three Boys at Lake Tanganykia”. It was shot by Hungarian photographer Martin Munkacski. (Galassi, Peter) Shortly after seeing the photo, he bought a Lecia camera with a 35 millimeter lens and began his photography career. His simple yet cunning style is what made him famous. All of his photos were natural. He didn’t use any kind of “augmented” images. He believed that the edits of the images he caught should be done when the image was made. In 1935 he was invited to an exhibit in the United States for his work. It took place at New York’s Julien Levy Gallery. Carmel Snow, who was an editor for a magazine at the time, fell in love with Cartier-Bresson’s photography. (Galassi, Peter) Snow was the first American editor to publish Cartier-Bresson photo’s in a magazine. (Galassi, Peter) In 1937, he did his first photojournalist photos of the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. He took no photos of the king and queen, but focuses on the people in the streets in London. When German invaded France in 1940, he once again enlisted in the French army.
Not long after he joined, he was captured and became a prisoner of war for the next three years. While in prisoner camp he tried escaping twice but failed, and on the third time he successfully escaped. He immediately returned to work and starting shooting photographs. Not long after the war ended he met and photographed Mahatma Gandhi. In 1947, Cartier-Bresson along with Robert Capa, David Seymour, William Vandivert and George Rodger founded Magnum Photos. (Assouline, P) The main purpose of Magnum Photos was to be a service to the people of the world by providing widely viewed images. With this Cartier-Bresson and his fellow members would split up and capture photographs all over the world. Cartier-Bresson covered India and China. He covered great events like Gandhi’s funeral, The Chinese Civil War, The Kuomintang administration, and the Maoist People’s Republic. (Assouline, P) Cartier-Bresson spent more than three decades taking amazing photography. Many photographers in today’s world use his style of photography. In all my research, my favorite thing about Cartier-Bresson was that he believed that you can capture one picture that could explain a whole story or event. If you are able to take a photograph with great expression, it
will lead to a great photo.

Works Cited
"Henri Cartier-Bresson." 2014. The Biography Channel website. Jan 27 2014, 04:29 http://www.biography.com/people/henri-cartier-bresson-9240139.

Assouline, P. (2005). ' 'Henri Cartier-Bresson: A Biography ' '. London: Thames & Hudson.

Galassi, Peter (2010). ' 'Henri Cartier-Bresson: the Modern Century ' '. London: Thames & Hudson.