Henri Cartier-Bresson, photojournalist?

[groen-kikkertje]

I was wondering: was Herni Cartier-Bresson a photojournalist?

Thanks in advance,
Groen-Kikkertje

 

[danalec99]

is this for the school paper as well??

HCB

 

[Krim]

allegdly - He was a Fraud, and on his death bed revealled that many of his so called 'candid' reportage images were indeed staged and not just being in the right place at the right time..... but i guess he did some photojournalism work, more magazine commissioned work though. Search the web, there;s loads on him.

Krim

 

[danalec99]

allegdly - He was a Fraud, and on his death bed revealled that many of his so called 'candid' reportage images were indeed staged and not just being in the right place at the right time.....

interesting.... would you happen to have link to an article or something to back that up? I'm interested. Thanks!

 

[Krim]

interesting.... would you happen to have link to an article or something to back that up? I'm interested. Thanks!

No i don't i'm afraid, bumped into a guy at an exhibition in Ldn who used to be one of my tutors at art-school 4or5 years ago, there was some Cartier Bresson work there, so the subject came up and he seemed to know what he was talking about.

I guess its the sort of thing that you may struggle to find info about on the web, could be conspiracy theory, but then there is some of his work that seems too good to be true?? everyone gets lucky, but he seemed to get lucky often??

Simon

 

[Hertz van Rental]

I haven't heard anything about a 'death bed confession' by H C-B. I always consider such admissions highly suspect - after all the person supposedly confessing is no longer around to contradict.
It is a possibility, though, as an awful lot of reportage has been staged over the years. Even asking someone to 'turn this way' or 'could you do that again?' could be considered stage-managing.
There is that famous photograph 'Death of a Loyalist Militiaman' by Robert Capa, reputedly showing a soldier being shot during the Spanish Civil War. There is some evidence to show that it was a fraud as the same soldier appears again alive and well later in the contact sheet. But there you have evidence.
Until someone comes up with documentary evidence I shall reserve judgement on H C-B. But even if he did 'fake' some, it doesn't make him any the less great as a photographer.

 

[danalec99]

I haven't heard of a db confession either. Towards the end he favoured painting. But a fraud? :scratch:

It is likely that Krim's tutor may have been a bit exaggerating on the 'turn this way' sort of directions; hopefully.

 

[Dave_D]

Have you seen the documentary on the history channel about the US civil war? Apparently, the photographers staged their shots of carnage throwing in some live guys to play dead. One of the giveaways was that there rifles and supplies were still there with them. HC is given credit for heralding in the age of photojournalism and it's just hard to say. I guess I'm with HVR on this one.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Have you seen the documentary on the history channel about the US civil war? Apparently, the photographers staged their shots of carnage throwing in some live guys to play dead.

That's been known for a long time. They moved corpses around too and posed them. The famous one is called 'home of a rebel sharpshooter' by Alexander Gardner. The photographer took a photo of a corpse where it had fallen - then it was carried 100yds to some rocks and posed. I doubt if H C-B ever went quite that far.

 

[Unimaxium]

I believe I remember hearing that the famous Iwo Jima photograph is also known to have been staged. Apparently after they raised the flag the photographer had soldiers re-pose so he could take a photograph of it. I'm not sure about the authenticity of the rumor, although I think it's more well-known than other rumors about different artists.

Does anyone know if HCB's photo Place de l'Europe is suspected to have been staged? I love that photo. It would be so cool if it wasn't.

 

[Dave_D]

I remember hearing the same, but I don't remember the specifics.

 

[photoboy15]

Unimax that is true. There are picure of the original but minutes later they put it up again for more photos.

 

[markc]

The famous one is called 'home of a rebel sharpshooter' by Alexander Gardner.

Yeah, the one in Devil's Den. Back in high school, some friends and I made a point to do our own version while down there. Had the hat and rifle and such. Yeah, we re-enacted a faked Civil War photo shoot. How geeky is that?

 

[Hertz van Rental]

I believe I remember hearing that the famous Iwo Jima photograph is also known to have been staged. Apparently after they raised the flag the photographer had soldiers re-pose so he could take a photograph of it. I'm not sure about the authenticity of the rumor, although I think it's more well-known than other rumors about different artists.

The version I heard was on a TV program about Photography screened in the UK in the 80's. Can't remember the name of the program but I do remember they talked to some of the people involved in the Iwo Jima shot, including a soldier who had been in the group raising the flag.
When the flag was originally raised the fighting was still going on and the situation was dangerous. It was re-enacted for the famous shot a day or two later when the fighting was almost over. The soldiers were told where to stand and what to do and had to hold the pose for a minute or two for the still shot and the film camera.
I don't have a problem with that - it's the spirit of the image that counts.
The Russians did the same for the raising of the flag on the Reichstag. The soldiers who had done it under fire went back a day or two later to re-enact it for the film crews.
Same thing happened when the Americans and Soviets finally met during the fighting. It had to be staged after it had really happened.
I think it is a fact of life for truly historic moments - the reality quite often is nothing much and would produce a rubbish image for anyone. Stage managing to catch the spirit of the moment is acceptable.
Not every photojournalist does it, though. I think that modern PJ's and War photogs are less inclined to bow to Political pressure and do it 'as is'.
I know for a fact that people like Tim Page and Don McCullin never faked anything. Too much integrity.