The French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) is considered to be the founder of today’s photo journalism. In early 1947, Cartier-Bresson, with Robert Capa and a few others founded Magnum Photos. Magnum was a cooperative picture agency owned by its members. Magnum aimed to use photography in the service of humanity, and provided captivating, widely viewed images. All 12 photographs included in this theme auction originally come from Magnum and bears their stamp on verso.
Cartier-Bresson achieved international recognition for his coverage of Gandhi's funeral in India, the first six months of the Maoist People's Republic and the Spanish civil war. Cartier-Bresson was in Paris in August 1944 when the Allies liberated the city from the Nazi occupation. With his camera, he captured historical moments that have been shown in countless magazines, newspapers and books. His pictures from the everyday life in Paris are also very well-known.
In 1952, Cartier-Bresson published his book “Images à la sauvette / The Decisive Moment”. It included a portfolio of 126 of his photos from the East and the West. Cartier-Bresson explains the philosophy behind his pictures in the preface: "To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression."
Henri Cartier-Bresson received the Hasselblad Photo Award in 1982.