Henri Cartier-Bresson

In 1929, Cartier-Bresson embraced the open sexuality offered by Crosby and his wife Caresse. He had an intense sexual relationship with her. His affair ended in heartbreak two years after Crosby committed suicide.

In 1937, he married Javanese dancer, Ratna Mohini. They divorced after 30 years of married life. Three years later, he married Magnum photographer Martine Franck. The couple had a daughter, Mélanie.

In 2003, he created the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation with his wife and daughter to preserve and share his legacy.

Henri Cartier-Bresson was born in Chanteloup-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, France, on August 22, 1908. His father was a wealthy textile manufacturer, while his mother’s family were cotton merchants and landowners from Normandy.

Young Henri owned a Box Brownie that he used for taking holiday snapshots. He later experimented with a 3×4 inch view camera. His parents raised him in traditional French bourgeois fashion.

He attended École Fénelon, a Catholic school. His uncle Louis introduced him to oil painting. The painting lessons were cut short, when his uncle died in World War I.

In 1927, Cartier-Bresson entered Lhote Academy, the studio of Cubist painter and sculptor André Lhote in Paris. He studied classical artists and contemporary art. He also studied painting with portraitist Jacques Émile Blanche.

From 1928 to 1929, Cartier-Bresson attended the University of Cambridge, where he studied English, art and literature, and became bilingual. He then completed his mandatory service in the French Army, stationed at Le Bourget.

In 1929, his air squadron commandant placed him under house arrest for hunting without license. American expatriate Harry Crosby persuaded the officer to release Cartier-Bresson into his custody. They spent time taking and printing pictures.

He went to Côte d’Ivoire in French colonial Africa. He survived by shooting and selling game. He took a portable camera. However, only seven photographs survived the tropics.

He returned to France in late 1931, and deepened his relationship with the Surrealists. The photographs taken by Hungarian photojournalist Martin Munkacsi inspired him to take up photography seriously.

Cartier-Bresson’s book, “The Photographs of Henri Cartier-Bresson” was published in 1947. Along with Robert Capa, David Seymour, William Vandivert and George Rodger, he founded Magnum Photos, a cooperative picture agency owned by its members.

Magnum’s assignment took him to India and China. He achieved international recognition for his photograph of Gandhi, 15 minutes before he was shot dead and the coverage of Gandhi’s funeral in India in 1948.

In 1952, Cartier-Bresson published his book “Images à la sauvette”. Its English edition was titled “The Decisive Moment”. It included a portfolio of 126 of his photos. Henri Matisse drew the cover.