Henri Cartier-Bresson - Böcker

A new edition of one of the most important and genre-defining photobooks of the twentieth century. The Decisive Moment (Images à la Sauvette in French) is one of the greatest photography books ever published. It brings together photographic material from the first twenty years of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s career. Images à la Sauvette was published in 1952 by Verve, with an original cover by Matisse. It was the result of a collaboration between the photographer, the famous art critic and publisher Tériade, and the painter, at the peak of his career. The American version, published the same year by Simon and Schuster, was the first to introduce the now-famous expression “decisive moment”. The book, which reveals the intrinsic duality of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work, the combination of intimate interpretation with documentary observation, received tremendous critical acclaim within the art world and is considered a “bible for photographers”, in the words of photographer Robert Capa. It remains an essential reference for photographers to this day. The original book, now out of print, has become a collector’s item. The Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson sought to make this classic photography book accessible again, in a smaller and practical format, at an affordable price. The latest print features the same material as the original 1952 edition, and is accompanied by a comprehensive study of the book’s making, its enduring popularity and the considerations behind its title, written by Clément Chéroux, Director of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson.

For the first time in 70 years, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson is reissuing this emblematic work by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Published by Verve in 1955, three years after the resounding success of The Decisive Moment, The Europeans brings together 114 photographs taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson between 1950 and 1955 across ten European countries. Taken during assignments for Harper’s Bazaar, Life, Holiday, and Paris Match, these images form a unique visual testimony of post-war Europe in the midst of reconstruction. From the revelers of Bastille Day in Paris to midnight masses in the Abruzzi, and from the funeral of George VI to the dockworkers of Hamburg, The Europeans does not aim to provide an exhaustive inventory, but rather composes a vibrant portrait of the inhabitants of a continent undergoing profound change. Beyond national borders, the book evokes a broader sense of European identity, shaped as much by everyday life as by the major upheavals of the time. The Europeans shared with The Decisive Moment a similar format, a sober and elegant layout, high-quality printing, and a cover designed by a renowned artist (Joan Miró for The Europeans, echoing Matisse’s cover for The Decisive Moment). As with The Decisive Moment in 2024, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson now offers a reissue of The Europeans in a smaller, more manageable and accessible format, while remaining faithful to the spirit of the original edition. Seventy years after its first publication, this reissue provides a unique opportunity to rediscover a major work of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s oeuvre, enriched with an unpublished text by Clément Chéroux that places the work in its historical and artistic context.

Henri Cartier-Bresson's writings on photography and photographers have been published sporadically over the past 45 years. His essays—several of which have never before been translated into English—are collected here for the first time. 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. These essays ring with the same immediacy and visual intensity that characterize his photography.