1901–1983 · United States · Photographer
Lisette Model
Frank, close-up street portraits with a blunt humanism.
Promenade des Anglais, 1934Source: Wikipedia
PHOTOGRAPHER · 1908–2004 · FRANCE
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Candid 35mm street photography built on geometry and timing.
- Born
- 1908
- Died
- 2004
- Country
- France
- Field
- Photographer
KNOWN FOR
- 1932Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare
- 1952Images à la sauvette (The Decisive Moment)
- 1948Gandhi's funeral
WHY THEY MATTER
Co-founder of Magnum Photos in 1947; retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.
THE LIFE
Cartier-Bresson studied painting before buying a Leica with a 50 mm lens in Marseille, a camera he used for many years. He was an early master of 35mm film and of candid street photography. His idea of the decisive moment, the instant when form and meaning come together, became a guiding principle for photojournalists. In 1947 he co-founded Magnum Photos, and in the 1970s he largely returned to painting.
WHAT THEY SHOT WITH
Leica with 50 mm lens
Also born in 1900–1929
1902–1984 · United States · Photographer
Ansel Adams
Sharp black-and-white landscapes of the American West with full tonal range.
Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941Source: Wikipedia
1902–2002 · Mexico · Photographer
Manuel Alvarez Bravo
Poetic, quietly surreal views of Mexican life.
Striking Worker, Assassinated, 1934Source: Wikipedia
1903–1993 · Mexico · Photographer
Lola Alvarez Bravo
Modernist portraits and street pictures of postrevolutionary Mexico.
Galería de Arte Contemporáneo (Frida Kahlo exhibition), 1953Source: Wikipedia
1903–1975 · United States · Photographer
Walker Evans
Frontal, plain-spoken records of American vernacular life.
American Photographs, 1938Source: Wikipedia
1904–1983 · United Kingdom · Photographer
Bill Brandt
High-contrast social documentary, then distorted nudes and stark landscapes.
The English at Home, 1936Source: Wikipedia