H C-B Without The Myths

[newspaperguy]

Forgive me if you've seen this before..

http://www.ishupatel.com/bresson.html

And my apologies to PKR who posted this link in an earlier thread.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/foru...d.php?t=128798

 

[benlees]

This was posted before, but within a thread. More people will see this, which is good!

 

[FrozenInTime]

First time I've seen it - thanks an interesting recollection.

 

[John Lawrence]

I'd not seen it either - thanks for the link.


John

 

[kdemas]

I've seen it before a few times but its an excellent read.

 

[Gareth Rees]

Thanks for posting

 

[paulfish4570]

what a wonderful memoir ...

 

[Thardy]

I enjoyed reading the article. Thanks for posting the link.

 

[zuiko85]

Wonderful story! Sure puts a human face to the man. Also shows that not just native talent was involved in his success but a lot of work too.

 

[randolph45]

Facinating story
Thanks for the link🙂

 

[Out to Lunch]

Dunno what this adolatory piece has to contribute to the man. Not much in my opinion. The interesting thing is that even so many years after his death, no authoritative biography exists.

 

[icebear]

Forgive me if you've seen this before..
http://www.ishupatel.com/bresson.html
...

Although it has been posted in the other thread before I didn't care to continue reading that one as it quickly became annoying. Thanks a lot for posting the link in a separate thread. I enjoyed reading the article.

Dunno what this adulatory piece has to contribute to the man. Not much in my opinion....

A first hand narrative about personal methods of HCB by someone who was his assistant for a brief period and even shared a room with him during that trip in India, gives a unique insight. I didn't know before that HCB loaded his own film from bulk rolls because he was afraid of scratch marks on the emulsion in commercial film rolls. Maybe this was widely known already, at least not for me. Also his apparently very quick style of shooting and moving on is something I wouldn't expect given the tight compositions HCB's frame usually exhibit.

 

[peterm1]

A good article, thank you for the link. For anyone who is a HCB fan I can only say if you have the chance to see the traveling retrospective on his work, go and see it. I saw it at the Brisbane Art Gallery in 2011 and was astounded at the range of his work - a total of 260 photos in the exhibition. Most only see his famous shots. The exhibition has hundreds more some of which I thought to be better than those that are more well known.

A link to the Brisbane showing. http://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/past/2011/henri_cartier-bresson

And to a Google search on the exhibition (although some of the results are clearly not from it - and some not his, its shows some of his unseen works). http://www.google.com.au/search?q=h...AfxmoDYAw&sqi=2&ved=0CF4QsAQ&biw=1920&bih=861

 

[Mark C]

Dunno what this adolatory piece has to contribute to the man. Not much in my opinion. The interesting thing is that even so many years after his death, no authoritative biography exists.

It is hard for me to imagine a photographer not finding this interesting reading. Admittedly, a college student who got to spend an extended time with Cartier-Bresson, shared a room with him, and got a personal introduction to Indira Gandhi, is likely to have some fond memories and kind things to say. I found it fascinating to read.

I can't remember the details, but I believe there was another assistant (in America maybe) who wrote a much less flattering report. I couldn't locate it, so might possibly be mixing it up with another photographer.

 

[semilog]

It is hard for me to imagine a photographer not finding this interesting reading.

Agreed. Among other things, it might be the clearest explanation of HCB's field workflow that I have seen.

 

[j j]

... I didn't know before that HCB loaded his own film from bulk rolls because he was afraid of scratch marks on the emulsion in commercial film rolls ...

I think he said that he didn't use a daylight bulk loader because of the risk of scratches and that he didn't use commercial rolls because bulk rolls were more compact.

 

[leicapixie]

A wonderful insight.It gives a very human face to a man surrounded in myths.I see a hard working pro, taking every precaution, to protect himself and his precious films.
The later generosity well shown and heard about in other articles. Dedicated , patient, tempermental, forceful and positive are all the attributes required of a good, very successful photographer.
The article that was very hard on HCB, was by a writer, who accompanied HCB across the USA.I think the year 1949.
Amazing how he traveled so "light". Imagine any PJ using so little today.
I once did a Fashion Shoot for a magazine using a Leica, 2 lenses and some film.The results were stunning. The Editor liked them BUT never gave me another assignment, because of my (apparent) lack of tools..

 

[telenous]

I can't remember the details, but I believe there was another assistant (in America maybe) who wrote a much less flattering report. I couldn't locate it, so might possibly be mixing it up with another photographer.

The article that was very hard on HCB, was by a writer, who accompanied HCB across the USA.I think the year 1949.

The author of the damning memoir was the poet John Malcolm Brinnin (Sextet, New York 1981). He accompanied Cartier-Bresson as a writer, in his (Harper's Bazzar funded) American tour in 1947. Apparently the two did not get along at all. Brinnin painted a negative picture of Cartier-Bresson as someone who would do anything to get a photo and who would generally be at odds in practice with the views he was preaching. (For example, Brinnin said he would shoot hundreds of photos a day despite Cartier-Bresson's claim that a shotgun approach was the sign of an amateur.) It's quite possible also that Brinnin felt he was hoodwinked in his dealings with Cartier-Bresson. The text he wrote for the trip was dropped unceremoniously. In fact, Cartier-Bresson dropped the whole project, not to publish the photos until half a century later (in America in Passing).

 

[leicapixie]

The photo that showed"Lady draped in OLD Glory" was said by the poet/writer/critic to be his "find".
Well at least HCB didn't whack him with his 111f or chase him with his pocket knife! Other tales..His wife said of HCB, "Henri says that he is a Buddhist. A very forceful one!"
Fun reading these comments.

 

[Mark C]

Yes, John Malcolm Brinnin, a writer and not an assistant, and a longer trip, so probably accounts for at least a bit of the friction. I remember reading Brinnin's account. Was it published in photography related magazine, maybe 80's/90's? I don't see it online; I seem to remember that HCB was not at all happy about the story as told.