Henri Cartier-Bresson

Thefirstfullbiographyeverpublished--avividportraitofthiscomplex,curious,brilliantman.Thetwentiethcenturywasthecenturyoftheimage--andHenriCartier-Bresson(1908-2004)wastheeyeofthecentury.Throughthedecades,thiseyefocusedonAfricainthe1920s,thetragicfateoftheSpanishRepublicans,andthevictoryoftheChineseCommunists.ItwasCartier-Bressonwhofixedinourmindsthefeaturesofhiscontemporaries:GiacomettiandSartreascharactersfromtheirownworks;Mauriacmysteriouslylevitating;Faulkner,Matisse,Camus,andcountlessotherscapturedatthedecisivemomentinportraitsforeternity.Anintenselyprivateindividual,Cartier-BressonconfidedinhisclosefriendPierreAssoulineoveranumberofyears,evenopeninguphisarchivestohim.Here,forthefirsttime,wereadabouthisyouthfuldevotiontosurrealism;hisunendingpassionfordrawing;thewarandtheprisoncamps;thefriendsandthewomeninhislife.Assoulineprovidesanacuteandperceptiveaccountofthelifeandphilosophyofthisiconofourtimes,andgivesusanopportunitytoreassesshiscontributiontotwentieth-centuryphotographyandreportage.23illustrations.