Recently I went looking for a copy of Henry Carter-Bresson's The Decisive Moment -- 'cause I thought: how hard could that be to find the emblematic work by one of the 20th Century's greatest photographers?Well, it turned out it was pretty tough. Nobody's got it in remainder, and the one that I did manage to track down (I can't even find it online now) was going for something like a grand.
I did see it -- briefly, mockingly, shut away behind glass, at an exhibit at the Art Institute. (Curse them.) I just wanted to read the thing. I thought about going to the guard, like an old lady shopping for jewelry, asking: "Please Sir, could you unlock the case? I'd like to take a closer look."
So imagine my apoplectic delight when I stumbled across this today at the MoMA Store, where I was looking for something else entirely:
Mind's Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers (HC)
One of the leading lights in photography of the twentieth century, Henri Cartier-Bresson is also a shrewd observer and critic. His writings on photography and photographers, which have appeared sporadically over the past forty-five years, are gathered here for the first time. Several have never before appeared in English. The Mind's Eye features Cartier-Bresson's famous text on "the decisive moment" as well as his observations on Moscow, Cuba, and China during turbulent times, which ring with the same immediacy and visual intensity that he brings to his photography.
Yes, please.
$19.95 at the MoMA Store. ($17.95 for members.)
Sure, it’s cheaper over at Amazon by a little bit, but a girl's gotta dance with him what brung her.
3 comments:
May I suggest
Nobuyoshi Araki, Self, Life, Death
while there is no mention of the desive moment, it is a story of life through a lens, in the mind, the eye and the heart.
excellent -- thanks so much for the recommendation.
interesting that you use the term detritus. I use that as my name sometimes when I play Hearts online. And flotsam at times.
About The Decisive Moment: It was one of the books I studied as a 16-year-old working in my mom's bookstore. Also The World of HC-B. I still have that. Wish I had the former.
Looking at the photo books set me on the course to being a professional photographer, which I've been now for 24 years. What a great way to make a living.
The other books I found inspirational were,
The Creation by Ernst Haas, an early advocate of color photography. Stunning book if you've never seen it.
Birds of North America by Eliot Porter. Amazing stuff. So far ahead of his time.
Cape Light by Joel Meyerowitz
The Family of Man
The Americans by Robert Frank
The Best of Life
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (photos by Walker Evans)
and others I can't recall. They're all inspirational works. There is no better way to learn photography than by looking at works of others. That's an obvious statement but some don't take the time to pay attention to those who came before or those who are currently producing fine work. Flickr has been a godsend to many.
I'm 50 and I'm still learning. I'm a photo editor at one of the largest and best papers in the country and I pick up stuff from our staff by seeing their work. And more importantly, I scour the wires, AP, MCT, Getty, Reuters, NYT, LATWP and others continually. There are so many outstanding photojournalists at work today that I think by today's standards HC-B wouldn't be as revered as he is. He was certainly one of the best of his time working with the equipment available and what a special eye he had. That's what set him apart. And afterall, it's all about seeing. Anyone can take a picture.
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