Watch! Watch! Watch! An approach to the rich and diverse photography by Henri Cartier-Bresson

As curator Ulrich Pohlmann points out, there is hardly another photographer in the 20th century who has produced such a rich and varied oeuvre as the French artist Henri Cartier-Bresson. A photojournalist, art photographer and portraitist, he created timeless compositions and set the style for later generations of photographers. With his talent for finding the “decisive moment”, he captured spontaneous encounters and situations and became one of the most important representatives of street photography. His works, many of which have become icons today, show, like an anthropologist, some of the most important events of the 20th century.

The exhibition, the result of extensive archival work at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris, is a true journey through time that allows us to appreciate some of the social, political and artistic transformations of the last century and, in addition, the evolution of photography itself. Throughout his career, Cartier-Bresson developed different styles and tackled a multitude of subjects. His activity as a photographer was also reflected in politics - although the artist himself promoted his apolitical image - an aspect that this exhibition aims to highlight and that until now had been left in the background. Attention to his work had almost always focused on his predilection for geometry and the philosophy of the "decisive moment".

Valencia, Spain, 1933. Silver copy in gelatin. Photograph courtesy of Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos.

Two hundred and forty original gelatin silver prints belonging to the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris - the author prohibited copies of his images from being made after his death - are accompanied by a careful selection of his publications in magazines and books, as well as a film and two documentaries made by the author himself.

The exhibition produced by Fundación MAPFRE and the Bucerius Kunstforum in Hamburg, with the collaboration of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris, covers the artist's work through different stages that follow his career chronologically. From his first political reports and testimonies of the war, where Henri Cartier-Bresson worked as a photojournalist for the French communist press, to his turn to surrealist photography, or his interest in the relationship between human beings and machines, the behaviour of the masses, etc. A very broad career that ends with a sample of his travel reports, where the artist abandons the political component to a certain extent to show the character of the areas he visited, as well as the traditions of their inhabitants.

The tour of the exhibition, divided into ten thematic and chronological sections, aims to reconstruct the original context of some of his photographs.

Henri Matisse at home, Vence, France, 1944. Gelatin silver copy. Photograph courtesy of Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos.

New Vision and surrealism. In search of objective chance
With unexpected angles and perspectives, the reproduction of visual textures and the isolation and fragmentation of the subjects photographed, his first works will adopt the essential characteristics of the New Vision, one of the great stylistic currents of photography in the 1920s and 1930s.

Dark hours, luminous moments. Early political reports and accounts of the war
By the mid-1930s, Cartier-Bresson's works had already achieved a certain recognition through exhibitions and notable publications. From 1938 onwards, his foray into cinema led him to direct three documentaries on the Spanish Civil War. At the same time, he worked as a photojournalist for the French communist press and published regularly in the illustrated magazine Regards and the daily Ce Soir, until June 1940, when his activity was interrupted after being captured by German troops and interned in the V-A prisoner of war camp in Ludwigsburg. In 1943, on his third escape attempt, he managed to escape and immediately resumed his activity as a photographer.

India and China. Societies in transition
After the war, Cartier-Bresson lost interest in surrealist photography. He turned to photojournalism and, as a founding member of Magnum Photos, was put in charge of projects in Asia in 1947.

Sunday on the banks of the Seine, in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France, 1938. Silver copy in gelatin. Photograph courtesy of Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos.

Communism and humanism. During the Cold War
Cartier-Bresson was the first Western photographer to visit the Soviet Union, in 1954, and to capture life under the communist regime in Moscow. Although his photographs were published in several international magazines, critics accused them of trivialising the conditions in the country.

America in Passing. Henri Cartier-Bresson's black and white America
From 1947 onwards, Cartier-Bresson travelled frequently to the United States, when racial segregation laws were still in force. He captured demonstrations by African Americans against inequality and in favour of social change. He also photographed key figures in the civil rights movement, such as activists Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

Man and Machine. Photographs of Industrial Work
From the 1950s onwards, Cartier-Bresson became interested in the relationship between humans and machines, as seen in the images included in the 1968 publication Man and Machine. These photographs do not reflect an idealisation of work, nor a critique of working conditions. Instead, the artist focused on the symbiotic relationship between humans and machines. With the information age, from the early 1960s onwards, physical labour was replaced by work with computers.

The Wall in West Berlin, Germany, 1962. Gelatin silver copy. Photograph courtesy of Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos.

Rituals of Power. Demonstrations
From 1930 onwards, Cartier-Bresson became interested in the behaviour of the masses at sporting events, demonstrations or political events. As a silent observer, Cartier-Bresson avoided taking sides and emphasised that he had no political motivation. Yet the viewer will always sense an underlying sympathy for acts of rebellion.

Urban worlds. Street photography
Cartier-Bresson has always been known for his street photography. With his motto “Capturing life in the moment”, he reflected the omnipresence of advertising posters and political slogans in public spaces. He was particularly interested in placing people in juxtaposition with such visual signs, often creating almost surreal scenes.

Portraits. Humanism in the art of taking photos
People were always the focus of Cartier-Bresson’s photographs. He took his portraits by remaining in the background, observing, waiting for the “decisive moment” that would reveal the personality of his model. These are intimate images that allow us to capture the inner life of the models.

Travel reports
During his career, Cartier-Bresson travelled almost all over the world. In 1951 he visited Basilicata, a mountainous region in southern Italy where part of the local population still lived in primitive caves. His images of this stay reflect the inhospitable character of the area as well as the traditions of its inhabitants.