Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Artless Art
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Photography & Video
Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Artless Art Details
From Library Journal Montier's doctoral thesis makes up the text of this important book, which is part biography, part catalog, and part critical explication. The text, supplemented with images of Cartier-Bresson's nonphotographic work, shows the varied sides of the photographer. But we don't really need to see the paintings and drawings of Cartier-Bresson. Thankfully, Montier keeps his primary interest on the delightful and usually surprising moments that Cartier-Bresson captures. What seems like a chaotic cluster of disparate people engaged in various activities is an instant when all this mayhem came into the viewfinder for Cartier-Bresson. The "Artless Art" of the title is the capturing of reality, honoring it, giving us long moments to enjoy it, and coming away thinking that the instant recorded was full of aesthetic delight. Recommended for general collections.?David Bryant, New Canaan P.L., Ct.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more From Booklist So perfectly do Cartier-Bresson's eloquently trenchant photographs capture the paradoxes and stark, unexpected beauty of life in this convulsive century, many have attained the status of icons, but these oft-reproduced treasures represent only a fraction of his vast and varied oeuvre. Not only have many of his photographs gone unpublished, but few aspects of his determinedly independent life have been sensitively analyzed. Montier corrects both of these deficiencies with the help of Cartier-Bresson himself, a partnership that infuses this handsome volume with a spirit of discovery and celebration. The photographs themselves are, of course, quietly magnificent, and many--especially those taken in Japan, India, Iraq, and Mexico in the 1950s and 1960s, powerful compositions of people scraping sustenance and joy from ancient, arid, and comfortless lands--reveal a fresh facet of Cartier-Bresson's art and compassion. Montier articulates the power of these images by combining biography with knowledgeable insights into Cartier-Bresson's inspirations, including his brilliant channeling of Zen Buddhist thought into a liberating aesthetic of photography. Donna Seaman Read more Language Notes Text: English (translation) Original Language: French Read more About the Author Henri Cartier-Bresson is one of this century's leading photographers and his career has profoundly influenced the field. His earliest images are of Europe in the 1930s and 40s; he later traveled throughout the world, to the United States, India, Japan, China, Mexico, the Soviet Union, to frame the world with his camera. Read more
Reviews
HCB was a master of the type of photography he practiced. The photographs speak for themselves. They are beautiful, they are classic and they will always transcend any words people speak about them. So, what's the point in weighing down the impact of these photographs with a text that is so pretentious and unreadable it turns off everyone but the pretentious reader?Buy this book. It is one of my favorites on Cartier-Bresson. Look at the photographs first and you will gain respect and appreciation for the photographer. But only skim the text.