Smithsonian Magazine article on H-C Bresson

[Skippy Sanchez]

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The April, 2007 Smithsonian Magazine has an article on a recently-published scrapbook of Henri Cartier-Bresson's early work. The article is not online yet, but reads, in part:

 

"If you want to see Cartier-Bresson when he was still indecisive -- about what to print, what to show and what to save -- look at the scrapbook he put together in 1946, now reconstructed and published as "Henir Cartier-Bresson: Scrapbook, Photographs 1932-1946.' It contains multiple versions of many of his iconic photographs. And there's a great story behind it.....

 

"From the reconstructed book, it's clear that Cartier-Bresson didn't just point and decisively shoot. He found promising settings, lay in wait and took many shots, both vertical and horizontal....

 

"So did his decisiveness lie in his famously ruthless selection of a single shot from each campaign?

 

"It [his book, 'The Decisive Moment'] might be called "The I-can't-quite-decide-which-image-looks-more-decisive-Moment."

 

Sounds like he made pictures the way most of use do, huh?

[scott kirkpatrick]

Not so fast! Some of his contact sheets have been reprinted. The fat man in the square in Spain was the third (and last) of three. The boys running through a hole in the wall was one of two shots. He knew when he had gotten it. Mike Johnston tells of shooting all day around the Tidal Basin in Washington DC, and never noticing the picture of two fishermen in a balletic pose that it appears HC-B got on that very same day.

 

Other famous pictures are clearly "waiters," where the scene is beautifully composed, and one person appears in the right spot to fill in the scene. I can believe he looked through the fence at the puddles and posters behind the Gare Saint-Lazare for a while before his luck came through.

 

But I would love to see the notebook. Is it being published, or will the Smithsonian article appear online?

 

scott

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[Skippy Sanchez]

But I would love to see the notebook. Is it being published, or will the Smithsonian article appear online?

 

scott

 

I received my mag in the mail yesterday. My guess is it'll go online at some point, but I don't know how they do things.

 

The article said the scrapbook has been published. Amazon has it for $53.55 (http://www.amazon.com/Henri-Cartier-Bresson-Michel-Frizot/dp/050054333X)

 

I might also point out that this is a scrapbook of his pre-1946 work. Like most of us, his shootng style had probably evolved over the years.

 

-Skippy

[sharookh]

I picked up a copy of "Scrapbook" in Mumbai yesterday. It really is a superb publication - impeccably printed with wonderful text on HCB.

 

A must buy!

 

Best

 

Sharookh

[Skippy Sanchez]

finally broke down and ordered my copy.

[scott kirkpatrick]

finally broke down and ordered my copy.

 

Took you a while! Hope you enjoy it.

 

scott

[kdemas]

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Last summer, if memory serves me correct, I actually saw the "Scrapbook" collection at the Foundation HCB in Paris. Terrific collection, I am going to pick up the book. Lots of work from Mexico and some interesting shots from New York as well.

 

If you've never been to the Foundation HCB I highly recommend it. Very nice people and always something interesting to see. A short walk from the "Gaite" subway station.

 

Kent