Punjab, India

Henri Cartier-Bresson

1947 · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

This photograph depicts a group of refugees at the Kurukshetra camp performing simple exercises to drive away lethargy and despair. Framed against a blank wall, as if in an ancient frieze, the wildly dancing figures appear eternally suspended between desperation and ecstasy.

Artist

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Date

1947

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987