Henri Cartier-Bresson
(FRENCH, 1908 – 2004)
Henri Cartier-Bresson was persuaded by Robert Capa to call himself a photojournalist rather than an artist or a Surrealist for his first New York show. Best known for his concept of the "decisive moment" in photography. At its best this leads to a dynamic image but easily becomes - even occasionally in the hands of the master himself - a formal stasis. Cartier-Bresson is the recipient of an extraordinary number of prizes, awards and honorary doctorates including the Overseas Press Club of America Award (1948, 1954, 1960, 1964), The A.S.M.P. Award (1953), the Prix de la Société Française de Photographie (1959), the Culture Prize, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (1975). Capa also persuaded Cartier-Bresson to become one of the founders of Magnum.
“It’s always luck. It’s luck that matters. You have to be receptive, that’s all.
Like the relationships between things, it’s a matter of chance. If you want it, you get nothing. Just be receptive and it happens.”