An Inner Silence: The Portraits of Henri Cartier-Bresson

"No one in the twentieth century created more instantly recognizable images than Cartier-Bresson."--"Denver Post" <BR>Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) was perhaps the finest and most influential image maker of the twentieth century, and his portraits are among his best-known work. Over a fifty year period, he photographed some of the most eminent personalities of the era, as well as ordinary people, chosen as subjects because of their striking and unusual features. <BR>In 2003, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, which was created to provide a permanent home for his collected works, opened in Paris. This book is published to coincide with the first exhibition at the Fondation that is drawn entirely from those archives, and it features both well-known images and previously unpublished portraits. <BR>Each portrait has been chosen because it perfectly embodies Cartier-Bresson's description of what he was attempting to communicate in his photographs: "I'm seeking above all an inner silence. I am trying to translate the personality and not an expression." The portraits reproduced here--discreet, without artifice, their subjects frozen in time--confirm once more the singular gift of Cartier-Bresson who instinctively knew in which revealing fraction of a second to click the shutter. 100 illustrations.

"Published to coincide with the first exhibition at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris, this handsome collection spanning 70 years of image-making gathers 97 portraits by one of the defining photographers of the 20th century. Stripping away artifice from his subject, Cartier-Bresson could capture a personality with a click of his legendary Leica. The book collects portraits of world leaders, artists, celebrities and ordinary citizens, including many famous images — e.g., Sartre and Pouillon standing on Pont Des Arts — and a few iconic ones, like a young Truman Capote on a New Orleans bench engulfed by large leaves. Several pictures, including arresting images of Carson McCullers, Joan Mir, Susan Sontag and Francis Bacon, are previously unpublished. Some of the images confirm the persona of the subject: Carl Jung puffing on his pipe and William Faulkner rolling up his shirt sleeves as dogs nip at his heels. Others shed light on a familiar figure: Martin Luther King lost in thought at his cluttered desk, pen in one hand and his forehead resting in the other. These masterful photos blend the spontaneity of a great snapshot with the highly organized composition of a classical painting. 97 tritone reproductions." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)