Can you explain why HCB chose this photo?

[cowanw]

I am reminded of Edward Steichen's beloved Shad Bow tree. It meant something to him too, I suppose

 

[warden]

I couldn't find any in the three Cartier-Bresson books I have, except for this one, made in 1968, same year he stopped photography to devote himself to painting.

I keep wondering if this one doesn't also have a very personal meaning. It was made in Brie, and Cartier-Bresson was born in Chateloup-en-Brie, but as there a a few towns called Brie in France, tough to say if there is a relation.

Great shot.

 

[snusmumriken]

I couldn't find any in the three Cartier-Bresson books I have, except for this one, made in 1968, same year he stopped photography to devote himself to painting.

I keep wondering if this one doesn't also have a very personal meaning. It was made in Brie, and Cartier-Bresson was born in Chateloup-en-Brie, but as there a a few towns called Brie in France, tough to say if there is a relation.

Surely this one is ‘just’ a point-perfect composition? No need to look for personal meaning here, although there could be.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Surely this one is ‘just’ a point-perfect composition?

Indeed it is.

No need to look for personal meaning here, although there could be.

I wasn't by need. I was just wondering, as my mind at times likes to briefly wander in these directions before coming back to its senses.

 

[snusmumriken]

I couldn't find any in the three Cartier-Bresson books I have, except for this one, made in 1968, same year he stopped photography to devote himself to painting.

Alex, out of curiosity - rather than to prove a point - I've just counted 12 landscapes without people in the collection referred to in post #1, not including the topic of this thread or the exquisite composition from Brie.

Now that I pay more attention, I see that 5 of the 14 capture shapes, lines or blocks akin to abstract art of the period. Eight are whimsical, poignant or ironic in a typically HCB way, while the last is the Isle de la Cité in Paris.

 

[Milpool]

I couldn't find any in the three Cartier-Bresson books I have, except for this one, made in 1968, same year he stopped photography to devote himself to painting.

I keep wondering if this one doesn't also have a very personal meaning. It was made in Brie, and Cartier-Bresson was born in Chateloup-en-Brie, but as there a a few towns called Brie in France, tough to say if there is a relation.

I've always liked that picture. Actually it's one of the few Cartier-Bresson pictures I'm into. A terrible thing to say, I know.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Alex, out of curiosity - rather than to prove a point - I've just counted 12 landscapes without people in the collection referred to in post #1, not including the topic of this thread or the exquisite composition from Brie.

Now that I pay more attention, I see that 5 of the 14 capture shapes, lines or blocks akin to abstract art of the period. Eight are whimsical, poignant or ironic in a typically HCB way, while the last is the Isle de la Cité in Paris.

Thanks for this. I just saw that Delpire published in 2001 a book of his titled Paysages. I'm wondering if your photo is in it and if there is more info about it.

Paysages Henri Cartier-Bresson - delpire & co

With a Preface by Erik Orsenna. Postface by Gérard Macé. Henri Cartier-Bresson’s strengths in dealing with history and daily life are found intact in his photographs of nature. The same finesse of vision, the same infallible instinct guiding him towards the most significant scene. What Henri...

www.delpireandco.com

BTW, this morning I wrote an email to the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation asking if they had any info about this photo. Will post here if I get an answer.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Alex, out of curiosity - rather than to prove a point - I've just counted 12 landscapes without people in the collection referred to in post #1, not including the topic of this thread or the exquisite composition from Brie.

Now that I pay more attention, I see that 5 of the 14 capture shapes, lines or blocks akin to abstract art of the period. Eight are whimsical, poignant or ironic in a typically HCB way, while the last is the Isle de la Cité in Paris.

Well, just got an answer from the HCB Foundation. They tell me they have very little information on our photograph.

It shall remain a mystery.

 

[MattKing]

Well, just got an answer from the HCB Foundation. They tell me they have very little information on our photograph.

It shall remain a mystery.

I have this picture in my mind of a bunch of beret wearing (and Galoises smoking?) French Foundation representatives sitting around a copy of the photograph and saying things like:
"What should we say to Monsieur Benjamin? I've never figured out why HCB liked this one, have you figured it out?"
"No, none of us know - we will just tell him we have very little information on it"

 

[Alex Benjamin]

I have this picture in my mind of a bunch of beret wearing (and Galoises smoking?) French Foundation representatives sitting around a copy of the photograph and saying things like:
"What should we say to Monsieur Benjamin? I've never figured out why HCB liked this one, have you figured it out?"
"No, none of us know - we will just tell him we have very little information on it"

Or better yet: "Tell him to check Photrio. I hear there's a good thread on the subject already."

 

[snusmumriken]

I just saw that Delpire published in 2001 a book of his titled Paysages. I'm wondering if your photo is in it and if there is more info about it.

I was unaware of that one too. Definitely worth a look. Does anyone in the forum have a copy?

Well, just got an answer from the HCB Foundation. They tell me they have very little information on our photograph.

It shall remain a mystery.

You are much more enterprising than I was. But I wonder whether you would have received the same answer about any HCB photograph? I don't know, but I suspect it was HCB who originated the idea that a photo needs no more notes than place and date. At any rate, for a man who destroyed the negatives adjacent to his 'keepers', it seems entirely consistent that he would avoid leaving any extra notes, and that the guardians of his legacy would maintain a similar silence. I am speculating, of course! Possibly some living Magnum photographers hold insights about the Touraine photo, but I am not on the same Christmas card list.

This has been a very worthwhile thread for me. Thanks to everyone.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

I was unaware of that one too. Definitely worth a look. Does anyone in the forum have a copy?


You are much more enterprising than I was. But I wonder whether you would have received the same answer about any HCB photograph? I don't know, but I suspect it was HCB who originated the idea that a photo needs no more notes than place and date. At any rate, for a man who destroyed the negatives adjacent to his 'keepers', it seems entirely consistent that he would avoid leaving any extra notes, and that the guardians of his legacy would maintain a similar silence. I am speculating, of course! Possibly some living Magnum photographers hold insights about the Touraine photo, but I am not on the same Christmas card list.

This has been a very worthwhile thread for me. Thanks to everyone.

I'm not stopping now!

Found the actual location. It's called Chouzy-sur-Cissé. And Chouzy-sur-Cissé is the village where his wife, Ratna Mohini, hid during the war and where he reunited with her after escaping the German camp.

In the MoMA book titled The Modern Century, the photo is dated 1944, not 1946, so this photo might actually have been taken at that moment when he finally reached the place in wich she was hiding, wich, if the case, makes it very moving.

Will try to confirm if I find another source.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

OK. Dug a little deeper. Can confirm that it's a photo of the kitchen garden of the farm where his wife Ratna Mohini took shelter during the war, taken in 1944.

 

[warden]

OK. Dug a little deeper. Can confirm that it's a photo of the kitchen garden of the farm where his wife Ratna Mohini took shelter during the war, taken in 1944.

And that's why it's in the book. Great detective work!

 

[Don_ih]

Yet all that information does not make it a good photo.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Yet all that information does not make it a good photo.

Yup. He didn't chose it because it was a good photo but it because it meant something to him.

 

[awty]

We need to bear in mind that it's a photo of some neige blanche, and the French are keen on that stuff.

Its a reflection of his drawing style, a soothing his inner creative soul amongst his populous stuff.
Photography paid the bills, but he was an artist at heart.

 

[Don_ih]

Yup. He didn't chose it because it was a good photo but it because it meant something to him.

You could always be safe assuming it meant something to him without knowing what it meant to him. We all assume he thought the photo was significant so included it in a publication. Yet the photo could just as well be of his shoe at the same time and location, if the time and location are what give the photo value.

Even with the assumption it is meaningful and even with the full knowledge of what that meaning is, the viewer is still just as likely to glance at this photo and turn the page.

 

[cliveh]

I have this picture in my mind of a bunch of beret wearing (and Galoises smoking?) French Foundation representatives sitting around a copy of the photograph and saying things like:
"What should we say to Monsieur Benjamin? I've never figured out why HCB liked this one, have you figured it out?"
"No, none of us know - we will just tell him we have very little information on it"

Matt, you have just reminded me, how in my younger days when I use to smoke, how after consuming a beautiful meal in Paris, how wonderful it was to smoke a Galoise with a rich glass of red wine.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Even with the assumption it is meaningful and even with the full knowledge of what that meaning is, the viewer is still just as likely to glance at this photo and turn the page.

There is no such thing as "THE viewer". There are as many types of viewers as there are people, and each brings to his viewing his own background, sensibility, knowledge, questionings, etc. Viewing is never a neutral relationship between an inanimate object and an indefinite persona. It's a dialogue between a complex (no matter how simple it may seem) and unique work and a complex and unique person. The one advantage the person has over the work is that it can chose the mode and terms of the conversation, including dismissing it entirely.

There's no right or wrong. Many may glance and turn the page, others be intrigued, others enthralled, etc.

 

[snusmumriken]

OK. Dug a little deeper. Can confirm that it's a photo of the kitchen garden of the farm where his wife Ratna Mohini took shelter during the war, taken in 1944.

Absolutely brilliant sleuthing! How on earth did you find that out?

 

[snusmumriken]

Matt, you have just reminded me, how in my younger days when I use to smoke, how after consuming a beautiful meal in Paris, how wonderful it was to smoke a Galoise with a rich glass of red wine.

+1. Or a Gitane, where the packet itself was a work of art.

 

[snusmumriken]

There is no such thing as "THE viewer". There are as many types of viewers as there are people, and each brings to his viewing his own background, sensibility, knowledge, questionings, etc. Viewing is never a neutral relationship between an inanimate object and an indefinite persona. It's a dialogue between a complex (no matter how simple it may seem) and unique work and a complex and unique person. The one advantage the person has over the work is that it can chose the mode and terms of the conversation, including dismissing it entirely.

There's no right or wrong. Many may glance and turn the page, others be intrigued, others enthralled, etc.

It’s also relevant to mention that HCB was a fan of James Joyce, so he was happy with the notion that the viewer/reader may never fully understand.

 

[snusmumriken]

And that's why it's in the book. Great detective work!

Well, not necessarily. He may still have selected the photo for its visual qualities.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Absolutely brilliant sleuthing! How on earth did you find that out?

Full details of the location are in the MoMA book I mentioned earlier. Found it at the library (no, I wasn't going there just for that ). The link with his wife I found in two different sources, one of them the MoMA website.