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卡提耶－布列松：世紀一瞬間
二十世紀是個動盪的時代，也是影像閱讀的新世紀。被譽為「現代新聞攝影之父」的卡提耶－布列松（亦之前台灣攝影界慣稱的布列松）為這個時代的影像樹立標竿，透過他的萊卡相機和 50mm 鏡頭，拍攝了西班牙共和黨人的悲劇命運、二戰勝利後巴黎的解放、甘地遇刺前幾小時的容顏，以及中國共產黨的勝利，卡提耶－布列松見證了時代的重大變革。
卡提耶－布列松是任何攝影者都無法忽略的大師。冷戰時代，他是第一位進入蘇聯採訪的攝影師，也是第一位在羅浮宮展出攝影作品的攝影師。他的攝影理論「決定性瞬間」更是影響一代又一代的攝影師。
雖然出生於家教良好的資產階級家庭，但卡提耶－布列松最痛恨的卻是金錢。父親希望他繼承家族紡織企業，他卻拿起相機在世界各地拍攝。在許多人對卡提耶－布列松的回憶中，他是個害羞腼腆的人，但穿梭在人群中拍攝時，他又是個大膽又完全忘我的攝影大師。
卡提耶－布列松早年的志願是當一名畫家，習畫多年，即使後來成為一名新聞攝影師，卡提耶－布列松的作品依然講究嚴謹的構圖。在教會學校時期，卡提耶－布列松總是和他的環境格格不入，沉迷於閱讀被視為叛經離道的小說和詩歌，完全被現代派詩人波特萊爾所征服。繪畫和詩歌是卡提耶－布列松攝影的兩大元素，完美的構圖、詩人的敏銳，以及時代見證，造就了雋永的作品。
一九四七年，卡提耶－布列松和好友戰地攝影家卡帕等五人成立了馬格蘭攝影通訊社，推動攝影記者擁有底片著作權，可以自由販售作品，讓攝影師獨立於雜誌、報社，從此改變了攝影記者的職業生態。至今，馬格蘭攝影通訊社依然是新聞攝影的權威機構。
卡提耶－布列松很少談論自己的作品，又是個很注重隱私的人，因此他的生平和創作根源一直不為世人所熟知。由於本書作者和卡提耶－布列松長時間接觸，卡提耶－布列松漸漸變得無話不談，甚至開放他的檔案室供作者參觀。本書詳盡回顧了卡提耶－布列松一生的重要轉捩點，讓你一探這位世紀大師的內心深處和創作歷程：他遇到了什麼人？他從繪畫和詩歌中得到什麼啟發？這些經典照片背後又有什麼拍攝故事？
書中收錄多張卡提耶－布列松經典作品，在解讀大師的同時，看到一個世紀的重大瞬間。
卡提耶－布列松是任何攝影者都無法忽略的大師。冷戰時代，他是第一位進入蘇聯採訪的攝影師，也是第一位在羅浮宮展出攝影作品的攝影師。他的攝影理論「決定性瞬間」更是影響一代又一代的攝影師。
雖然出生於家教良好的資產階級家庭，但卡提耶－布列松最痛恨的卻是金錢。父親希望他繼承家族紡織企業，他卻拿起相機在世界各地拍攝。在許多人對卡提耶－布列松的回憶中，他是個害羞腼腆的人，但穿梭在人群中拍攝時，他又是個大膽又完全忘我的攝影大師。
卡提耶－布列松早年的志願是當一名畫家，習畫多年，即使後來成為一名新聞攝影師，卡提耶－布列松的作品依然講究嚴謹的構圖。在教會學校時期，卡提耶－布列松總是和他的環境格格不入，沉迷於閱讀被視為叛經離道的小說和詩歌，完全被現代派詩人波特萊爾所征服。繪畫和詩歌是卡提耶－布列松攝影的兩大元素，完美的構圖、詩人的敏銳，以及時代見證，造就了雋永的作品。
一九四七年，卡提耶－布列松和好友戰地攝影家卡帕等五人成立了馬格蘭攝影通訊社，推動攝影記者擁有底片著作權，可以自由販售作品，讓攝影師獨立於雜誌、報社，從此改變了攝影記者的職業生態。至今，馬格蘭攝影通訊社依然是新聞攝影的權威機構。
卡提耶－布列松很少談論自己的作品，又是個很注重隱私的人，因此他的生平和創作根源一直不為世人所熟知。由於本書作者和卡提耶－布列松長時間接觸，卡提耶－布列松漸漸變得無話不談，甚至開放他的檔案室供作者參觀。本書詳盡回顧了卡提耶－布列松一生的重要轉捩點，讓你一探這位世紀大師的內心深處和創作歷程：他遇到了什麼人？他從繪畫和詩歌中得到什麼啟發？這些經典照片背後又有什麼拍攝故事？
書中收錄多張卡提耶－布列松經典作品，在解讀大師的同時，看到一個世紀的重大瞬間。
344 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
Pierre Assouline
95 books49 followersPierre Assouline is a French author and journalist.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 18, 2009
Considering how interested I am in photography, I actually read very few biographies of individual photographers.
This book reminded me why I read so few...
I don't know, but I bet that most writers who write biographies of photographers are NOT themselves photographers...Nor curators or art historians or collectors. Not people who, through training or practice, are accomplished at reading or making images.
At least, that seems to be the case here, with this biographer. There are the factual errors he makes,* but maybe worse is the haziness when he discusses CB's work. So few sentences devoted to discussing the Gare Saint Lazare photograph? The photograph that defined the Decisive Moment style? And why did Cartier-Bresson become interested in photography, to begin with? we don't have any real ideas as to why. Much of the time, it feels like the biographer is offering answers off-the-cuff, not based on any uncovered facts or thorough research.
There are some good moments. Cartier-Bresson's childhood and teenage years are vividly-described, as is his time spent in, and escape from, a German POW camp. And the complicated politics of the Magnum photo agency is fairly well narrated.
Don't a lot of people read bios for the juicy gossip tidbits? There's not much of that here, either. Wouldn't his tempestuous, 30-year marriage to the Indonesian dancer Ratna have offered that? Nope, sorry.
The last 100 pages feel like a summation and I'm sitting there with the book in my hand and a handful of potato chips in my mouth yelling "Wait a minute! It's too soon to wrap-up his life just yet. It's only the mid-1950s! He's not dead yet. He's still got a lot of work to do!"
I wish HCB's own book, "The Decisive Moment," would be re-published.
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*Tri-X film wasn't introduced in 35mm format until 1954! Cartier-Bresson couldn't have used it during the first 20+ years of his career! So what film did he use over that period? Help us out, here.
This book reminded me why I read so few...
I don't know, but I bet that most writers who write biographies of photographers are NOT themselves photographers...Nor curators or art historians or collectors. Not people who, through training or practice, are accomplished at reading or making images.
At least, that seems to be the case here, with this biographer. There are the factual errors he makes,* but maybe worse is the haziness when he discusses CB's work. So few sentences devoted to discussing the Gare Saint Lazare photograph? The photograph that defined the Decisive Moment style? And why did Cartier-Bresson become interested in photography, to begin with? we don't have any real ideas as to why. Much of the time, it feels like the biographer is offering answers off-the-cuff, not based on any uncovered facts or thorough research.
There are some good moments. Cartier-Bresson's childhood and teenage years are vividly-described, as is his time spent in, and escape from, a German POW camp. And the complicated politics of the Magnum photo agency is fairly well narrated.
Don't a lot of people read bios for the juicy gossip tidbits? There's not much of that here, either. Wouldn't his tempestuous, 30-year marriage to the Indonesian dancer Ratna have offered that? Nope, sorry.
The last 100 pages feel like a summation and I'm sitting there with the book in my hand and a handful of potato chips in my mouth yelling "Wait a minute! It's too soon to wrap-up his life just yet. It's only the mid-1950s! He's not dead yet. He's still got a lot of work to do!"
I wish HCB's own book, "The Decisive Moment," would be re-published.
-------------
*Tri-X film wasn't introduced in 35mm format until 1954! Cartier-Bresson couldn't have used it during the first 20+ years of his career! So what film did he use over that period? Help us out, here.
May 19, 2020
Kitap, HCB fotoğraflarının arkasındaki kişiyi tam olarak anlatmak da başarılı olamamış maalesef.
July 4, 2013
I had read Assouline's Hergé biography and what I remembered from it was Hergé, not Assouline at all....I still wondered if that was good or not when I picked up this one from the shelf.
Everyone knows that Assouline is a good reader and critic but that doesnt make one automatically an excellent "plume".
The book ended up being a good intro to Cartier, though I can't pretend I knew much about his life or -even- his work before I read it, and I can't pretend I want to know more about the person now (shy, effacé, borderline secret, and bad tempered) but it sure made me curious about his work. The "story" covers all the major chapters in his life (what Assouline lacks in style and depth, it compensates in details and in being exhaustive). His theories about style and the act of taking a picture are explained in a very didactic way which sure is interesting to any amateur photograph, whatever the era.
Everyone knows that Assouline is a good reader and critic but that doesnt make one automatically an excellent "plume".
The book ended up being a good intro to Cartier, though I can't pretend I knew much about his life or -even- his work before I read it, and I can't pretend I want to know more about the person now (shy, effacé, borderline secret, and bad tempered) but it sure made me curious about his work. The "story" covers all the major chapters in his life (what Assouline lacks in style and depth, it compensates in details and in being exhaustive). His theories about style and the act of taking a picture are explained in a very didactic way which sure is interesting to any amateur photograph, whatever the era.
February 5, 2023
É realmente difícil não ficar impressionado com toda a trajetória dessa verdadeira lenda da fotografia. Inclusive, muito do que se é usado como técnica, principalmente na composição de uma imagem, se deve ao Henri Cartier-Bresson, também conhecido como HCB.
Livro denso e que possui uma certa dificuldade de leitura devido a tanta informação que é passada nele. Um trabalho muito bem feito pelo autor, sem dúvida!
Para aqueles que gostam de artes visuais no geral, essa é uma leitura muito recomendada e que pode servir tanto como inspiração como fonte de informação técnica no meu ponto de vista (principalmente se procurarmos mais informações sobre boa parte do que é mencionado).
Livro denso e que possui uma certa dificuldade de leitura devido a tanta informação que é passada nele. Um trabalho muito bem feito pelo autor, sem dúvida!
Para aqueles que gostam de artes visuais no geral, essa é uma leitura muito recomendada e que pode servir tanto como inspiração como fonte de informação técnica no meu ponto de vista (principalmente se procurarmos mais informações sobre boa parte do que é mencionado).
July 15, 2019
More like 3.5 stars. Most of it borders on hagiography and there is more than a bit of artsy-babble. But the author does go on to present more of the "difficult" side of HCB along with a genuine appreciation for the person and his art as a photographer. That he was less successful in drawing and painting actually adds to the transcendent nature of his gift as a photographer. And of the life he lived. Brise-cou.
November 27, 2019
Assouline dichiara di aver scritto una biografia in quanto amico di Cartier Bresson . Io non ci credo . Questo libro è un'operazione commerciale poco onesta: ha preso tutte le informazioni disponibili sulla vita del fotografo e le ha "allungate" per riempire le pagine di questo libro. Lo stile di scrittura che ne risulta è pesante e irritante. Chi è interessato alla vita di Cartier Bresson troverà le stesse informazioni online , senza sottoporsi alla sgradevole lettura di questo autore.
January 4, 2021
Found this very hard going. The book is overly descriptive and analytical and contain very little detail on artist's personal life. Descriptions very repetitive, some chapters describe every film that Cartier-Bresson made. This is not a critical, all-rounded biography - more of a tribute to the artist and 270 page long discussion of his talent. A disappointing book, difficult for a general reader.
January 14, 2019
If you have been an admirer of his work and want to dig in deeper into his past, this is a good book for you. Very complete and writing by someone who was a true believer.
June 8, 2020
Wanted to know more about his shooting decisions and personal life when he was older but a good bio to start. What a great photographer!
December 19, 2014
This book feels like the author has barely skimmed through HCB's life and is therefore disappointingly superficial, sketchy even. It seems based largely on interviews with HCB himself, occasionally buffered by additional research, but no sign of other interviews. This results in some gaps, possibly areas HCB did not wish to discuss or did not recall. The most glaring are his involvement with the Surrealists, his escape from prisoner-of-war camp, his departure from Magnum and his relationship with Martine Franck. There is also very little detail of the creation of his key works and virtually no juicy anecdotes. Detail of his photographic technique are poorly fact-checked. In places the translation is weak, particularly in the latter, posthumous supplement.
But there's so little written about him that it will have to do. I think I would still recommend it, but alongside a good history of Surrealism to add insight into his early creative life.
But there's so little written about him that it will have to do. I think I would still recommend it, but alongside a good history of Surrealism to add insight into his early creative life.
August 24, 2022
Too few books on HCB exist and this one was quite disappointing. The author writes a lot of text on the artistic side of HCBs photography and puts it in many contexts, but too little about the man. HCB indeed did not reveal too much about himself during his life. So in a way it’s not the author’s fault for the lack of material, yet it still doesn’t make a good read after all. Wasted time with the book.
July 3, 2008
I found too much of the author's personal thrill with being allowed access to Cartier-Bresson, and not necessarily that much new info...it has been sitting half-read for a long time, so that tells you something.
March 29, 2009
Biografia maravilhosa, não apenas pela vida sem paralelo do mestre Cartier-Bresson, mas pela escrita cheia de detalhes históricos de Pierre Assouline, autor que pode conviver com Bresson por 5 anos antes de sua morte.
October 23, 2014
concentrating more on the person than the photographer and more on HCB's career more than his most famous works, this isn't definitely any coffee table book: but a detailed, insightful biography written by a friend.
January 23, 2011
hcb. hero. this bio is very french.
May 21, 2014
Many times, rather than a biography, this book seems like the comment of the author on the life of this photographer. It is also a heavy reading.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews