The European

by Henri Cartier-Bresson

Book Overview

Henri Cartier-Bresson is one of this century's leading photographers. His earliest images are of Europe in the 1930s and '40s. Here is a magnificent compilation of the world-renowned photographer's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 1853321745
• ISBN13: 9781853321740
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: South Bank Centre
• Weight: 2.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

the best

Cartier-Bresson is a God of Photography. This is his best album that I know.

Visualizing the Common Qualities!

Review Summary: This book is a brilliant expansion of M. Cartier-Bresson's 1955 show designed to emphasize the similarities that exist from country to country throughout Europe in the way people live together. M. Jean Clair has done a marvelous job of adding earlier and more recent images to extend and magnify this theme. As a result you will see an "unquestionable family likeness" for the Europeans that emerges from "the obstinate reworking of a chosen subject." The book contains 200 duotone images to make that point. Reader Caution: While there is relatively little nudity in this book, there is one final image of two female models resting on a couch that would probably cost this material an R rating if it were a motion picture. If you skip that photograph, you will probably not find the other partial female nudity offensive. This one work is actually asexual, in portraying posing nude as hard work from which one needs a totally relaxing break. Review: Since World War II, Europeans have been struggling with their common heritage and how to balance it with the national, religious, and cultural ones. Gradually, the differences are being homogenized. Brilliantly, Henri Cartier-Bresson understood early on that the connections were stronger than most other people probably realized. By showing the similarities across countries and cultures, he creates an awareness of potential for friendship that would escape those who had never visited all of these countries. The work revolves around unnamed themes. But any casual viewer will spot children playing, men and women enjoying a relaxed moment together, public observances of religion and politics, how humans are dominated by nature, the contrasts between rich and poor, and the artificial nature of much modern life. His work also explores the subtle ways that natural and human-made objects display the same forms and outlines. Here are my favorite images in the book: Guilvines, Brittany, France, 1956; On the banks of the Seine, France, 1936; Palais-Royal, Paris, France, 1959: Amarante, Alto Douro, Portugal, 1955; Lamego, Beira Alta, Portugal, 1955; Madrid, Spain, 1932; Ariza, Aragon, Spain, 1953; Aquila, the Abruzzi, Italy, 1951; Torcello, Italy, 1953; Zurich, Switzerland, 1953; Ridnik, Serbia, Yugoslavia, 1965; Gyor, Hungary, 1964; Near Linz, Upper Austria, 1953; Tug-boat pilots on the Rhine, Germany, 1952; Warsaw, Poland, 1931; Moscow, USSR, 1954; Fishermen, near Suzdal, USSR, 1972; George VI's Coronation, London, England, 1937; Queen Charlotte's Ball, London, England, 1959; and Break between drawing poses, Paris, France, 1989. You will also be intrigued by how much of the political content of what is portrayed here has changed since it was photographed. The scenes of celebrating Soviet Communism and its founders are gone. The Berlin Wall is gone. The positive identification with everything royal in England is diminished.Naturally, there's a less pleasant side of this convergence that

A remarkable journey through lands and peoples of Europe

This is the accompanying book to the exhibition by the same name. It is classified by country and covers from Ireland on the Western edge of Europe to Turkey on the East. Within each country there no further classification by date, location or any other criteria. Photographs are less striking than his usual magnum style but has a certain peaceful effect to most of them. Photos from Russia are exceptionally good.