The Decisive Moment: a trap or an acme, for the understanding of Henri Cartier-Bresson - postponed

Predavanje ob razstavi Henrija Cartier-Bressona
Agnès Sire, umetniška vodja Fundacije HCB

Cankarjev dom Literature and Humanities The Decisive Moment: a trap or an acme, for the understanding of Henri Cartier-Bresson - postponed

There is nothing in this world which does not have its decisive moment.
Cardinal de Retz

This phrase, which comes from the memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, appears as the epigraph to Henri Cartier-Bresson’s introductory text for his first major book of photographs, Images à la Sauvette, published in 1952 by Tériade. At the time, Cartier-Bresson had no idea how important it would become.

Since the publication of the American edition, for which the publishers Simon & Schuster had to find a title with more punch the concept of the ‘decisive moment’ has practically always been associated with the name of Henri Cartier-Bresson.

A misunderstanding and a concept which have imposed themselves and which lead to a somewhat distorted, or in any case simplified, vision of Cartier-Bresson's work.