Flyfisher Tom
Well-known
I am sure some of you may have already viewed this documentary:
Henri Cartier-Bresson : The Impassioned Eye (2003)
It is now available on dvd from amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/002-8097770-5160042?n=130
It is a very informative and well-done documentary including extensive interviews with the master himself, reviewing his most celebrated photos. Filled with insights from HCB on technique (not gear). With commentary from other Magnum photographers (Erwitt, Koudelka among others) on the art and precision of HCB's work.
Most insightful, in my opinion, is his repeated emphasis on the "geometry" of his photos relative to other photographers' work (I frankly lost count of how many times he used that word in the film). And although I had always thought that geometry was the distinguishing hallmark of his work vis a vis the other great photographers (Winogrand, Frank, Walker etc), it was rather insightful to have the master himself state emphatically that his use of "geometry" was his personal foundation of photography. For once, we get HCB's own confirmation of this principle, as opposed to conjecture from photography historians/critics/afficianados asserting it from the outside.
In any event, it is a very well-done film, and well worth some thought provoking viewing if you haven't had the chance to see it. In reveiwing my HCB books after viewing the interview, I would have to concur that his most moving photos truly distinguish themselves from the works of other photographers by their sublime geometry of lines, angles and juxtaposing subjects in a photo.
cheers
Henri Cartier-Bresson : The Impassioned Eye (2003)
It is now available on dvd from amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/002-8097770-5160042?n=130
It is a very informative and well-done documentary including extensive interviews with the master himself, reviewing his most celebrated photos. Filled with insights from HCB on technique (not gear). With commentary from other Magnum photographers (Erwitt, Koudelka among others) on the art and precision of HCB's work.
Most insightful, in my opinion, is his repeated emphasis on the "geometry" of his photos relative to other photographers' work (I frankly lost count of how many times he used that word in the film). And although I had always thought that geometry was the distinguishing hallmark of his work vis a vis the other great photographers (Winogrand, Frank, Walker etc), it was rather insightful to have the master himself state emphatically that his use of "geometry" was his personal foundation of photography. For once, we get HCB's own confirmation of this principle, as opposed to conjecture from photography historians/critics/afficianados asserting it from the outside.
In any event, it is a very well-done film, and well worth some thought provoking viewing if you haven't had the chance to see it. In reveiwing my HCB books after viewing the interview, I would have to concur that his most moving photos truly distinguish themselves from the works of other photographers by their sublime geometry of lines, angles and juxtaposing subjects in a photo.
cheers
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