“THE DECISIVE MOMENT” HENRY CARTIER-BRESSON
“Henri Cartier-Bresson – The Decisive Moment” examines Cartier-Bresson’s influential publication, widely considered to be one of the most important photobooks of the twentieth century.
Pioneering for its emphasis on the photograph itself as a unique narrative form, The Decisive Moment was described by Robert Capa as “a Bible for photographers.” Originally titled Images à la Sauvette (“images on the run”) in the French, the book was published in English with a new title, The Decisive Moment, which unintentionally imposed the motto which would define Cartier-Bresson’s work.
This exhibition at the International Center of Photography, New York, details how the decisions made by the collaborators in this major project—including Cartier-Bresson, French art publisher Tériade, American publisher Simon & Schuster, and Henri Matisse, who designed the book’s cover—have shaped our understanding of Cartier-Bresson’s photographs.
Cartier-Bresson was most interested in work that was simple and candid. With his rigorous approach he established himself as a pioneering photographer, artist and visionary thinker who saw photography outside galleries and beyond the daily papers. He had an early interest in the photo book as a public vehicle for his work and put a great effort into „The Decisive Moment“: it was filled with examples of that crucial moment, juxtaposed with delicate geometry and a deep sense of humanity. It was produced, start to finish, in just under six months in New York and France under the title Images à la Sauvette.
The original edition was limited to about 10,000 copies at a time when books were still largely reserved for literature and classical arts. And it was indeed unconventional – with a cover by Henri Matisse, Cartier-Bresson’s personal introduction and richly textured photo gravure prints.
Through vintage gelatin silver prints, first-edition publications, periodicals, and correspondence, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment brings new insights to this iconic work.
HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON
THE DECISIVE MOMENT
ICP INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY
NEW YORK
www.icp.org
.
.
READ MORE FROM ART & PHOTOGRAPHY
- LYNN SAVILLE AT YANCEY RICHARDSON GALLERY, NEW YORK Twilight in the city, after the sun disappears below the horizon and the hustle and bustle has dissipated, is where Lynn Saville finds refuge and inspiration. For decades, she has documented these fleeting, dream-like moments suspended in time within the…
- SUE WILLIAMS Since beginning her career in the 1980’s, Williams’ oeuvre can be defined, in part, by its transition from boldly narrative and satirical, cartoon-like paintings exploring themes of feminism, violence, and inequality, to all-over compositions of brightly colored semi-abstractions, retaining the…
- "DARKNESS VISIBLE" - A PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY BY MANI NEJAD Darkness Visible is a visual journey through urban landscapes portraying their structural and formal qualities. Conceived as a black and white study it presents a narrative of fictional minimalism that is drawn from real places in present time...