Henri Cartier-Bresson
French, 1908 - 2004
Person TypeIndividual
BiographyHenri Cartier-Bresson (French, 1908–2004) was a humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography and an early user of 35 mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment. In 1944 and 1945, Cartier-Bresson photographed the occupation of France and its liberation. In 1947 he co-founded the Magnum agency with Robert Capa, Chim (David Seymour), and George Rodger and he spent the next twenty years traveling around the world. He received the Overseas Press Club Award four times; the American Society of Magazine Photographers award in 1953; and the Prix de la Société Française de Photographie in 1959, among other honors. Cartier-Bresson's publications include From One China to Another (1954), The Europeans and People of Moscow (1955), The Face of Asia (1972), and The Decisive Moment (1973). His photographs can be found in major collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago; The Getty Museum, Los Angeles; and Musée Carnavalet, Paris.