Leica LTM Did HCBresson Always Shoot with a Leica?

[ZorkiKat]

It's always been said that Henri Cartier Bresson always shot with a Leica. And that he always shot with a 50mm.

The latter's been largely disproven by HCB himself, who said in some interviews that he used 35s and 90s too.

How about shooting only with Leica? A photo of HCB which was published in Time Life's "Library of Photography" ("Great Photographers" -1971) showed him holding something else. Looks to be more of a Canon IVSB or similar model. Single round port (as opposed to Leica's two) and one large VF window, the raised lever under the rewind knob, and the bright patch on the flash sync bar suggest a Canon.

The book identified the photographer in the picture as "Henri Cartier Bresson".

 

[Paul T.]

I'm sure I read he also used a Contax T - although I don't remember any supporting evidence.

 

[xayraa33]

and the Minolta CLE, used late in life as shown on a recent photo on RFF.

 

[xayraa33]

It's always been said that Henri Cartier Bresson always shot with a Leica. And that he always shot with a 50mm.

The latter's been largely disproven by HCB himself, who said in some interviews that he used 35s and 90s too.

How about shooting only with Leica? A photo of HCB which was published in Time Life's "Library of Photography" ("Great Photographers" -1971) showed him holding something else. Looks to be more of a Canon IVSB or similar model. Single round port (as opposed to Leica's two) and one large VF window, the raised lever under the rewind knob, and the bright patch on the flash sync bar suggest a Canon.

The book identified the photographer in the picture as "Henri Cartier Bresson".

There was a book about the world's greatest photographers by Beaumont Newhall that had a small photo of HCB with a Canon bottomloader camera, circa early 1950's.

 

[chut]

Yes, I do remember reading that he was using a Contax T right before he stopped shooting altogether. I don't know how that can be proven though.

 

[Beniliam]

Cartier Bresson uses several cameras along his life.

He uses too medium format and large format cameras, in the period of photojournalist for ´Ce soir´.

The famous image of the Cardinal Pacelli (later Pius XII) was taken with a large format camera and then recropped for the 35 mm format.


-

David

 

[Bob Michaels]

Way back then it was probably: "Would someone hand Henri a camera for a prop while I photograph him" Henri and his friends think nothing of the camera model because they are just tools for making photos.

Decades later, it becomes "OMG, did you know that HCB used to use a XXXXX camera?"

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I think that during WWII, while fighting against the Germans, he did not shoot with a Leica, but very likely with a Carbine.

 

[chut]

In the biography by Pierre Assouline, he talks about Bresson in a concentration camp, 'shooting' only with his mind.

 

[sonwolf]

HCB purchased his first Leica in Marseilles in 1932. The earlier photos were all shot with a different camera. For example, the photos from his African trip in 1931 were shot with a Krauss miniature camera.

 

[Bingley]

OT: it's great to see you back here, David!

 

[Benjamin]

I'm sure that he would also appreciate people talking about things that were completely irrelavant to his being on the internet. Cameras aren't a big deal you know. This place sure is useful for the sake of opinions before you might spend a lot of cash but still...

Why can't people just leave him alone?

 

[nico]

In this book http://www.libroco.it/cgi-bin/dettaglio.cgi?codiceweb=800301256120536 there's a photo of HCB with two italian important photographers, Ferdinando Scianna (a Magnum member) and Gianni Berengo Gardin. HCB, in that photo, has a small compact (?) camera hanging from the wrist and the camera is clearly visible but I can see the back of the camera not the front ... so it could be a Contax T or a minilux ...
I'll try to post that photo later ...

 

[nico]

OT: it's great to see you back here, David!

🙂
I'm very glad too!

 

[nico]

here a detail of the photo ...

ciao
N.

 

[ferider]

Like J. said, very late, HCB liked the CLE:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/umdiaumafoto/24763474/

I'm wondering what lens he used in your photo, ZorkiKat. 50/1.5, 1.8 or something else ?
Never seen that hood.

Roland.

 

[Kino Glaz]

I'm sure that he would also appreciate people talking about things that were completely irrelavant to his being on the internet. Cameras aren't a big deal you know. This place sure is useful for the sake of opinions before you might spend a lot of cash but still...

Why can't people just leave him alone?

i think that's exactly the point. to ram the illusion that leica was an essential component to Cartier-Bresson's work.

on the other hand, it's also incorrect to assume that he had a really low regard to the camera type used. dismissing it as 'just a tool'. just like any artist or creator, Cartier-Bresson likely had a favorite tool too. one he preferred over anything else because it fit his hand and intents perfectly. and it appears that it was the Barnack-types over anything else.

 

[Beniliam]

Thank you for your words, Steve and Nico.

Nico, Gianni Berengo Gardin is one of the most interesting photographs that have Italy. I love his work, maybe less know that Ferdinando Scianna or Paolo Pellegrin (for be Magnum members)... but he is a really fantastic photographer. 🙂 I also like Mario De Biasi, Mario Cattaneo, Tino Petrelli...

 

[nico]

Nico, Gianni Berengo Gardin is one of the most interesting photographs that have Italy. I love his work, maybe less know that Ferdinando Scianna or Paolo Pellegrin (for be Magnum members)... but he is a really fantastic photographer. 🙂 I also like Mario De Biasi, Mario Cattaneo, Tino Petrelli...

Hi David,
I must agree with you about Berengo Gardin being one of the most important italian photographers even though abroad is less famous than the Magnum italian guys (Scianna, Majoli and Pellegrin).
Other interesting italian photographers you may enjoy (even though you may already know them) are Alberto Giacomelli, Maurizio Galimberti (not a street photographer but quite brilliant with his polaroids' masterpieces), Ugo Mulas and Luigi Ghirri.
I didn't know De Biasi, Cattaneo and Petrelli ...you know the history of italian photography far better than me !!! 😀 I googled their names and found very consistent body of works, they really are good photographers!
Last but not at least, I'd like to ask you if there are spanish photographers you like or find inspirational for your photography.
Ciao
Nico

 

[rolleistef]

In the biography by Pierre Assouline, he talks about Bresson in a concentration camp, 'shooting' only with his mind.

Cartier-Bresson never was in a concentration camp, he was a prisonner of war. He soon escaped, pretending he was dead - hence the "in memoriam" exhibition at the MOMA after the war. But he certainly took pictures with his eyes, since he had burried his camera before he left to fight on the front...