Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) began traveling in 1930, at the age of twenty-two. For nearly half a century he was on the road most of the year, and his geographical range is reflected in much of his work. Likewise, the historical range of Cartier-Bresson's photographs is just as broad - from ancient patterns of preindustrial life to our contemporary era of ceaseless technological change. In the realm of photography Cartier-Bresson's work presents a uniquely rich, far-reaching, and challenging account of the modern century.
The two most important developments in photography in the first half of the twentieth century were the emergence of lasting artistic traditions and the rise of mass-circulation picture magazines. Cartier-Bresson was a leading figure in both domains. In the early 1930s, he helped to define photographic modernism, using a handheld camera to snatch beguiling images from fleeting moments of everyday life. After World War II Cartier-Bresson turned to photojournalism, and the magic and mystery of his early work gave way to an equally uncanny clarity and before the dominance of television, most people saw the world through the eyes of picture magazines. In 1952, he published his seminal monograph The Decisive Moment, a term which was to arguably become the most recognisable saying in photography's history. Early in his postwar career, his photographs of Gandhi's funeral and the Communist revolution in China were journalistic scoops. But the vast majority of his photographs describe the social reality of the everyday for that was his essential subject. His work is included in nearly every significant photographic museum collection world wide.
