“You just have to live and life will give you pictures”
~ Henri Cartier Bresson
(1908-2004)
I cannot think of anyone in the history of photography who lived a larger life than Henri Cartier-Bresson. There was hardly any corner of the earth to which he did not travel to document its inhabitants and the political events of the day. Even the word “epic” does not adequately cover his far-ranging subject matter.
I came across this image and its variant by accident one day whilst visiting him in Paris. I was immediately attracted to its dream-like quality. You just get swept up in the flow of the couples dancing, the sense of movement and romance in the air. I asked him why he had not previously made collector prints of the image.
“Well Peter, no one ever asked,” he replied.
He graciously agreed to make some prints for us and during our long and wonderful collaboration, it subsequently became our most requested image.
Queen Charlotte’s was a hospital in London and the ball was originally founded in 1780 by George III as a birthday celebration in honour of his wife Charlotte, and as a fundraiser for the hospital. Over the years, it became a highlight of the social calendar that only the English upper classes knew how to orchestrate, and a “hot” ticket.
Cartier-Bresson had been invited as he was visiting London at the time, and had reluctantly agreed to attend. He told me he was bored by the whole society thing and was about to leave when he noticed some stairs climbing up to the rafters. He climbed up there, leaned over the railing and, voila, captured the moment before his lens.
I guess if you are alert and open, you find great subject matter in the most unexpected places
