Henri Cartier-Bresson was 'the eye of the 20th century' and one of the most recognizable photographers worldwide. Paris was his home during his lifetime (1908–2004). The photographs he took of the city and its people are both dreamlike and free from pretense. This collection includes approximately 160 photographs taken over a career spanning more than fifty years. Mainly in black and white, this selection reveals the strong influence that pioneering documentary photographer Eugène Atget (1857–1927) had on Cartier-Bresson, as well as the clear visual connections with Surrealism that permeate Cartier-Bresson's early images. After an apprenticeship with Cubist painter André Lhote, in 1932 Cartier-Bresson purchased his first Leica, a small portable camera that allowed him to capture the movement and rhythms of everyday life in Paris. He closely followed the liberation in August 1944 and the political upheavals of May 1968. In the meantime, he managed to capture the faces of Parisians in their natural surroundings, famous artists and writers, as well as citizens. Always attentive to different ways of capturing the city around him, Cartier-Bresson returned to painting during the last two decades of his life. This collection is not only an exquisite portrait of Paris in the 20th century but also a testament to Cartier-Bresson's ability as a supreme observer of human life.

With 200 illustrations

Pages: 256, Year of Publication: 1015, Dimensions: 24x24cm