Valencia, Spain

Henri Cartier-Bresson French

Not on view

The advent of small, fast, hand-held cameras allowed photographers like Cartier-Bresson to isolate from the routine occurrences of daily life moments pregnant with a hidden poetry. The resulting images are seldom unequivocal. Has this child been stabbed, or is he in the throes of an ecstatic dance? Actually, he is arching his back to catch sight of a ball, but the photographer translated his play into an image of rapture.

Valencia, Spain, Henri Cartier-Bresson (French, Chanteloup-en-Brie 1908–2004 Montjustin), Gelatin Silver Print

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