Jaipur, India

Henri Cartier-Bresson

1948 · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

The French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson has traveled throughout the world, working in Africa, China, the United States, Mexico, and all over Europe as a photojournalist on assignment for a number of magazines. He has made five trips to India, during which he captured large, historic moments such as Gandhi's funeral and the refugee movement caused by partition. This photograph, however, taken at the time of independence, focuses on a small, everyday occurrence: a teacher instructing his students on the streets of Jaipur. The nature of the photograph exemplifies Cartier-Bresson's dedication to representing human dignity and to working as an unobserved observer, often anonymous in the crowd and using only a simple 35mm camera. The aesthetic of this photograph certainly evolved from his work in press photography, in which each image must tell a story in a single frame.

Artist

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Date

1948

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

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