Andalusia, Spain

1933, printed 1946

Not on view

Henri Cartier-Bresson's close association with Surrealist circles in 1920s Paris resulted in a devotion to chance and spontaneity that ultimately manifested itself in his adoption of 35mm street photography as his primary expressive medium in the early 1930s. In this photograph of two gypsies in southern Spain the subjects' mischievous engagement with the camera admits the presence of the photographer without disarming his astute aesthetic sensibility or erasing the subtle social implications of the situation. Although the picture seems effortless, it is Cartier-Bresson's finely tuned photographic intuition that has transformed a fortuitous encounter with a couple of marginal characters into a "decisive moment" that flouts bourgeois notions of proper subject matter in a manner worthy of his Surrealist heritage.

Artwork Details

Title: Andalusia, Spain
Artist: Henri Cartier-Bresson (French, Chanteloup-en-Brie 1908–2004 Montjustin)
Date: 1933, printed 1946
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 23.2 x 34.6 cm (9 1/8 x 13 5/8 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987
Object Number: 1987.1100.165
Rights and Reproduction: © Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum
Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

By Henri Cartier-Bresson

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

Les points de couture. Première partie. Les points de broderie. Deuxième partie. Les points de crochet. Troisième partie

Henri Cartier-Bresson

ca. 1940 (?)

Jean-Michel Folon

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Jean-Michel Folon

December 1989

Manifestation au Mur des Fédérés, Père Lachaise, Paris, France, 1936-1939, Henri Cartier-Bresson French, Gelatin silver print — Manifestation au Mur des Fédérés, Père Lachaise, Paris, France, 1936-1939
Henri Cartier-Bresson
1936–39

British Couple at the Races, Happy Valley, Hong Kong, Henri Cartier-Bresson French, Gelatin silver print — British Couple at the Races, Happy Valley, Hong Kong
Henri Cartier-Bresson
1949

Listening to a Soap Box Orator, Hyde Park, London, Henri Cartier-Bresson French, Gelatin silver print — Listening to a Soap Box Orator, Hyde Park, London
Henri Cartier-Bresson
1945

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.