Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers

Henri Cartier-Bresson's writings on photography and photographers have been published sporadically over the past 45 years. His essays—several of which have never before been translated into English—are collected here for the first time. The Mind's Eye features Cartier-Bresson's famous text on "the decisive moment" as well as his observations on Moscow, Cuba and China during turbulent times. These essays ring with the same immediacy and visual intensity that characterize his photography. Among The Most Influential Photographers Of The Twentieth Century, A Founder Of Magnum Photos And The Man Responsible For The Term The Decisive Moment, Henri Cartier-bresson Is Also A Sharply Insightful Critic And Observer. The Mind's Eye Is The First Compilation Of His Writings On Photography, Some Of Which Have Appeared Sporadically In Books And Journals Over The Past Forty-five Years But Have Never Been Available In A Single Volume. Several Of The Texts Have Never Before Appeared In English. Now Ninety Years Old, Cartier-bresson Seldom Photographs; He Devotes Much Of His Time To Drawing, And Remains As Forceful And Discerning As Ever In His Writings. The Last Section Of The Mind's Eye Includes His Commentary On Photographer Friends He Has Known - Including Robert Capa, Andre Kertesz, Ernst Haas, And Sarah Moon - Which Reveal The Impassioned And Compassionate Vision For Which Cartier-bresson Is Beloved.--jacket. Preface: The Lightest Baggage / Gerard Mace -- Pt. 1. The Camera As Sketchbook -- The Mind's Eye -- My Passion -- The Decisive Moment -- Photography And Drawing: A Parallel -- The Debate -- Pt. 2. Time And Place -- Europeans -- From One China To The Other -- The People Of Moscow -- Cuba -- Pt. 3. On Photographers And Friends -- If, In Making A Portrait -- For Alberto Giacometti -- Ernst Haas -- Romeo Martinez -- Robert Doisneau -- Sarah Moon -- Robert Capa -- Teriade -- Andre Kertesz -- Jean Renoir -- My Friend Chim [david Seymour] -- Andre Breton: Sun King -- Sam Szafran -- Georg Eisler -- Sirs. Henri Cartier-bresson ; [michael L. Sand, Editor]. Includes Bibliographical References. Henri Cartier-Bresson, at eighty-six, is the old master of European photography. Paris - the city and its people - has pervaded his work ever since he first exchanged his paintbrushes for a camera, influenced by the Surrealist movement of the late 1920s. A propos de Paris presents the photographer's personal selection of more than 130 of his best photographs of Paris, taken over fifty years. As ever, his vision transforms photojournalism into high art, revealing images of Paris with a rare, dreamlike, almost crystalline clarity. He unfolds before our eyes a kind of intellectual reconstruction of the city, reaching far beyond the cliches of tourism and popular myth. Accompanying texts by Vera Feyder and Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues discuss the history of Cartier-Besson's engagement with the city and its place in his achievement. This is a unique gallery of urban landscapes rendered by a great sensibility - Cartier-Besson's homage to the place perhaps closest to his heart.