Abeer - Photographer : Henri Cartier-Bresson

  

 Mexico City, 1934.

Henri Cartier-Bresson :

was born on August 22, 1908 in Chanteloup, France. A pioneer in photojournalism, Cartier-Bresson wandered around the world with his camera, becoming totally immersed in his current environment. Considered one of the major artists of the 20th century, he covered many of the world biggest events from the Spanish Civil War to the French uprisings in 1968.

Description - Analysis :

 it is “Gelatin silver print, made by the author in 1946, Collection foundation Henri, Cartier-Bresson, Paris. The first thing that catches the attention is the fact that it is a street one taken randomly at the right moment. As typical of Bresson’s pictures, all his pictures are chances, opportunities and the photographer has to take at the spur of the moment. It is also an example of a travel photo, in the sense it captures the ethnic and racial features the inhabitants of a certain nation or racial group. In fact, this Hispanic woman is a Mexican mother who has one baby wrapped in a transparent black cloth around her neck and another girl clinging to her dress. The beauty of the picture is the deep glance of the woman which is full of melancholy and sadness.

 Despite the fact that the picture is taken without any posing or artificial set or background, yet it is really a work of art. First, the picture has symmetry as the woman is spatially positioned between the little girl and the woman walking in the street with her back given to the viewer. There is a contrast in lighting between the woman’s dark dress and the lighter background of the shop and the girl’s lighter dress. There is also a contrast between the clarity of the woman’ face and look as opposed to the blurry covered baby under wrapped in the veil. The transparent cloth motif is reiterated in the transparent cloth in the shop behind the woman. Another contrast is made between the woman who is walking and the still background of the shop. The sense of movement is reinforced by the other woman with her back to the viewer. Indirectly, there is a contrast between what the way this woman in the back is wearing: an elegant goat, hat and elegant shoes as opposed to the humbler woman who has a light black dress: this might reflect the big social gap between the rich and the poor, and the problem of social class in developing countries of Southern America, including Mexico. The picture does portray the misery of a poor people, as the gaze of the woman is thoughtful. Probably, she is burdened by the weight of the baby while she is walking. Her lack of attention to her daughter as she is looking probably at the window shops indicates that she is burdened with inner thoughts. The picture could be also a reflection of the poverty of Mexico in those years.

The artist is able to portray all this without using color as he is able to capture the feelings surrounding the woman without resorting to colors which might contribute to our interpretation of the picture. Also the lack of color contributes to creating a certain seriousness that is important and linked to its subject. The picture was placed among other pictures of the artist, but given the uniqueness of this picture, I think it did stand out among other ones and immediately catches the attention for all the elements discussed earlier.