Born 1908 in France, Seine-et-Marne, Henri Cartier-Bresson developed a strong fascination with painting early on, and particularly with Surrealism. He was considered to be the father of modern photojournalism and an early adopter of 35mm format, and the master of candid photography. He has influenced generations of photographers who followed. Also, he is the one of the founders of the Magnum Photos.
He explained his approach to photography in these terms, ‘”For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.”
Cartier-Bresson was a photographer who hated to be photographed and treasured his privacy above all. Photographs of Cartier-Bresson do exist, but they are scant. When he accepted an honorary degree from Oxford University in 1975, he held a paper in front of his face to avoid being photographed.
亨利·卡蒂爾-佈列松,1908年生於法國塞納馬恩省,少年時熱愛繪 畫,尤其熱衷於超現實主義繪畫。他被認為是現代紀實攝影之父,他 是最早開始使用35毫米膠片進行創作的先驅,也是街頭抓拍攝影大 師。他的理論和實踐影響了後世無數的攝影人。而且,他還是瑪格南 圖片社的創辦人之一。
他是這麼定義他的攝影的: “對我來說,相機就像是我的速寫本,一個 直覺的和即興的工具,一個提問和決定同時進行的‘直覺大師’。它是 一種簡單快捷的表達方式。”
佈列松是一位不喜歡被拍照的攝影師,他珍視自己的隱私高於一切, 關於他的相片確實存在,不過非常少見。當他1975年接受牛津大學榮 譽學位的時候,他在自己面前舉了一張紙遮擋自己,以免被拍照。
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“To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It’s a way of life. ”
“拍攝,是將頭、眼還有心協調一致的過程, 這 是 一 種 生 活 方 式 。”
“In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotiv.”
“在攝影中,最小的事物可以是最偉大的題 材,人類微小的細節可以成為一個史詩般 的主旨。”
“Constant new discoveries in chemistry and optics are widening considerably our field of action. It is up to us to apply them to our technique, to improve ourselves, but there is a whole group of fetishes which have developed on the subject of technique. Technique is important only insofar as you must master it in order to communicate what you see… The camera for us is a tool, not a pretty mechanical toy. In the precise functioning of the mechanical object perhaps there is an unconscious compensation for the anxieties and uncertainties of daily endeavor. In any case, people think far too much about techniques and not enough about seeing.”
“在化學和光學領域的新發現極大地拓展了我們的認 知領域,我們將這些發現運用於攝影,用來提高我們 的能力,但是也出現了一批僅僅迷戀于攝影技術的屌 絲。技術是很重要的,你必須掌握它才能傳達你所看 到的景象……照相機對我們來說是一個工具,而不是 一個漂亮的機器玩具。在運轉精確的設備背後,可能 蘊含的是一種無意識的對日常生活中焦慮和不確定 性的慰藉。任何情況下,人們都過於關注技術,而忽 略了觀看。”
