“Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life offers you and you must know with intuition when to click the camera.”
~ Henri Cartier-Bresson
(1908-2004)
Henri first went to Mexico in 1934 and fell in love with the country. He had only planned to visit for a brief time, but ended up staying over 9 months. He fully integrated himself into its rich cultural milieu and made lifelong friends, like the great Manuel Álvarez Bravo, with whom he would exhibit.
He repeated his life as an eternal “flâneur” there, roaming the streets, photographing in the long angular shadows of the afternoon sun, often from high vantage points—shots of dramatic lighting and experimental framing. He returned there again in 1963 and created this rare masterpiece: a silhouette of a figure on a staircase, one of his great compositions.
For an insight into his sometimes mischievous personality, I encourage you to watch this entertaining documentary, Pen, Brush and Camera (1998).
