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Reviews (6)

Great recipes, easy steps, wonderful results.
This book puts you on the fast track to grafting the styles of famous artists into your own work through more than five dozen easy-to-follow recipes. Not surprisingly, you'll find yourself learning more than you originally expected to about Photoshop.

not-so-fast ...
Earlier this year I reviewed what many will see as the companion volume to this book ("Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers"), written by the same author. Unfortunately, the newer publication is less useful. It seems to have been written on a pretext that it's clever to be able to duplicate what traditional artists can do. This seems - from my own personal viewpoint - to be greatly undervaluing the power of Photoshop (and similar software). Practitioners of digital fine art should (really, constructively) be looking to explore what the principles of prior and traditional art can mean within a new domain.
Excellent!
Wonderful effects for the artistically inclined.The recipes in this book truly are easy to reproduce.You can apply these techniques to any of your digital photos. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Design    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computers    5. Computers - Other Applications    6. Operating Systems - Macintosh    7. Operating Systems - Windows    8. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    9. Computers / Other Applications    10. Computers/Operating Systems - Macintosh    11. Computers/Operating Systems - Windows    12. Digital techniques    13. Image processing    14. Photography    15. photoshop, adobe, digital photography, digital effects, photoshop effects, artistic forgery, artistic effects, daguerreotypes, calotypes, tintypes, pre-raphaelites, muybrudge, stieglitz, man ray, lissitzky, paul strand, edward weston, walker evens, dorothea lange, answel adams, bill brandt, henri cartier-bresson, brassai, cecil beaton, yousuf karsh, irving penn, arnold newman, angus mcbean, ernst haas, les krims, don mccullin, jerry uelsmann, david bailey, robert mapplethorpe, annie liebowitz, david hockney, sebastiao salgado, martin parr, mick kent, mantegna, da vinci, durer, caravaggio, el greco, rembrandt, vermeer, turner, caspar david friedrich, impressionism, seurat, van gogh, gauguin, cezanne, whistler, munch, hokusai, chagall, modigliani, picasso, futurists, salvador dali, hopper, o'keefe, grant wood, diego rivera, warhol, lichtenstein   

Editorial Review

"Photography is nothing, it's life that interests me." With his ever-present Leica camera, Henri Cartier-Bresson captured the raw and the sweet, the comic and the profound moments of lives that were lost in the grind or relegated to someone else's memory--the coincidental moment at which a reflection in a puddle of water mimics a poster on a nearby wall or when lovers kiss, oblivious to the not-so-pristine world around them. It is the familiar beauty and cruelty of the day-to-day that is so engaging in his photographs: two cosmopolitan woman chat nonchalantly while surrounded by empty lettuce crates; mourners at a funeral stare directly into the camera; postwar Paris awakens in the fog. Cartier-Bresson was the master of the "decisive moment," that fleeting instant for which a picture really is worth a thousand words, which is the essence of photojournalism. In no place is this more exemplified than in his images of Paris.Read more

Reviews (10)

Highly recommended
This book is one of two Henri's books I have and the best one. The book to go through again and again. Then go shoot some pictures and go through it again. You'll be surprized how many fresh impressions you'll get every time. Very inspiring book. Highly recommended for practicing fotographers.

Amazing!
As my favourite photographer, Cartier-Bresson has some kind of impayable discernment. His gallery of Paris is his magnum opus. His Leica, his 50mm lens, his mysterious face... all made him a monumental legend. I bought this gallery (hardcover) in 1995 for the price of $US 50 in Hong Kong. What are you waiting for? Just click it and buy it immediately, you will never regret buying this book.

Amazing!
As my favourite photographer, Cartier-Bresson has some kind of impayable discernment. His gallery of Paris is his magnum opus. His Leica, his 50mm lens, his mysterious face... all made him a monumental legend. I bought this gallery (hardcover) in 1995 for the price of $US 50 in Hong Kong. What are you waiting for? Just click it and buy it immediately, you will never regret buying this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1908-    2. Cartier-Bresson, Henri,    3. Europe - France    4. Exhibitions    5. In art    6. Individual Photographer    7. Individual Photographers And Their Work    8. Paris (France)    9. Photo Essays    10. Photography    11. Photography, Artistic    12. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Europe    13. Photography / Individual Photographer   

Reviews (1)

In love...
I am in love with HCB!This book is so beautiful, every picture is amazing.If you are a fan of portraiture this is a must!If you are a fan of HCB and you don't have a book of his yet, this is a beautiful edition to start with.It has all of his famous portraits including some that were not previously published.They are full page and on nice thick paper. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Individual Photographer    3. Photo Techniques    4. Photography    5. Subjects & Themes - Portraits    6. Individual photographers    7. Photographs: portraits    8. Photography / General   

Editorial Review

Henri Cartier-Bresson's amazing feat as a photographer is the ability to follow his heart and the keen vision of his mind and eye in each photograph. His subjects are only part of the image in the viewfinder, whose composition he sometimes arranges with geometric precision. Many of his best photographs also have startlingly broad political and sociological connotations, which gives the ordinary subjects extraordinary dignity, even grandeur. Read more

Reviews (6)

Best of Bresson
A lovely little book showing the most famous pictures of Henri Cartier-Bresson on 95 pages only. A must-have for the Cartier-Bresson fans or a great first book to have on this fabulous photographer.

A True Master
If Cartier-Bresson did not invent the art of 35mm street photography, he certainly brought it to the attention of other serious photographers and the public. Trained as a painter, his eye for composition was unerring, but it was his instinct for the defining human gesture--that he termed "the decisive moment"--that made him one of the immortals of photographic history. As one of the founding members of Magnum, he changed the way we think of photographs and the way we see the world. This book is an introduction to his work. As such, it's all too short, but the economical format make it possible to see a few decent examples of his work and perhaps to inspire further study. He was a true master of the art.

Nice little collection
This collection is a nice, compact, and inexpensive sample of Cartier-Bresson's photographs. I would have prefered the book to be a little larger to allow for bigger pictures. The print quality is decent. I was disappointed that my favorite photograph by him, the one of the bicyclist going by the staircase entitled "Hy�res, France", was absent. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1908-    2. Cartier-Bresson, Henri,    3. Individual Photographer    4. Photo Essays    5. Photoessays & Documentaries    6. Photography    7. Photography, Artistic    8. Architecture    9. Individual artists    10. Photographs: collections   

Editorial Review

Henri Cartier-Bresson spent four decades traveling the world as a photojournalistin search of what he called "the decisive moment"--the instant when visual harmony and human significance coalesce. Published in honor of his 95th birthday, Read more

Reviews (12)

A must if HCB is your cup of tea!
I put off buying this book as long as I could and eventually I did, having in the meantime manhandled book store copies. It is difficult to get too much HCB and this offers a lot in one package.
Creo que el mejor libro de Cartier Bresson
Fant�stico libro de fotograf�as que recoge muchas de sus �pocas como fot�grafo.
This book is amazing!
A great retrospective of his incredible photography. I just got it for Xmas and LOVE it! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Individual Photographer    3. Individual Photographers And Their Work    4. Photo Essays    5. Photoessays & Documentaries    6. Photography    7. Individual photographers    8. Photographs: collections   

Reviews (6)

It's HCB!
Very interesting read. I would say a must have for fans of photojournalism and photography in general.
Not what I expected...
I was somewhat disappointed with this book. I expected a lot more from Cartier Bresson. I found a few paragraphs of some interest, but no more than that. It is also a very small book, can be read in a day.

A small book with a lot of insight
I got HCB's book from the library this week and couldn't stop reading it since I started. Read more

Subjects:  1. Criticism    2. Photo Essays    3. Photo Techniques    4. Photographers    5. Photographic interpretation    6. Photography    7. Photography & Photographs   

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Individual Photographer    3. Photo Techniques    4. Photography    5. Individual photographers    6. Photographs: collections    7. Photography / Individual Photographer   

Reviews (2)

THE collection to own.
THE Cartier-Bresson book to own. The reproductions are high-quality andlarge, the selection is superb, the book is made to last.Almost all myfavorites are here.In short, worth the high price.He always deserved abook like this.

Beautiful!
This is a beautiful book of duotones of Cartier-Bresson's work. Itfeatures the most famous photographs Henri has ever photographed andbecause it was excellently printed, you can truly feel the images with suchintensity. This is a definite book to own if you love Henri's work. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Photographs: collections   

Subjects:  1. Individual Photographer    2. Photo Techniques    3. Photography   

Reviews (2)

Not Worth Your Time
Pierre Assouline's book is an uninspired chronicle of the life of Henri Cartier-Bresson, the well-traveled artist and, according to Assouline, liberal intellectual who produced some of the twentieth century's most important journalistic photography.
The Decisive Biography?
I'm surprised to be the first reviewer of a biography of one of the worlds most revered photographers.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Artists, Architects, Photographers    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. General    6. History - Surrealism & Dadaism    7. Photo Techniques    8. Biography & Autobiography / General    9. Biography: general    10. Individual photographers   

Reviews (6)

henri in india
the cover photo is a classic and the ghandi images just before his assasination are truly an historical treasure but the rest of the book should have been edited better by the publisher

Superb photographs but....
Again this is a set of beautiful photographs by Cartier-Bresson.There are some superb pictures.My favorite is number 64 titled, "The Maharaja of Baroda distributing sugar balls to the poor...".What a contrast of emotions on the faces!Specially the look on the young boy who albeit begging still has a somnolent remnant of pride and defiance. Will make an interesting addition to any collection
This book is the photographic record of Henri Cartier-Bresson's six extended visits to India. In addition to some rare pictures of difficult moments of Indian history, important personalities who defined the political scene, he also captures the quintessence of everyday Indian life. His lens conveys his understanding and deep regard for this country.Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - India & South Asia    2. India    3. Individual Photographers And Their Work    4. Photo Techniques    5. Photography    6. Pictorial works    7. Subjects & Themes - Travel - General    8. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Asia    9. Travel - World/Asia    10. Individual photographers    11. Photographic reportage    12. Photography / General    13. c 1945 to c 1960    14. c 1960 to c 1970    15. c 1970 to c 1980    16. c 1980 to c 1990   

Reviews (4)

THE GLORIES OF GALVESTON

Historic Galveston
That you Mrs. De Menil for financing this book and Mr. Barnstone for having the vision.The story behind this book is as facinating as the book itself.It is just amazing to get two of the greatest photographers of the 20th century to collaborate of any book, much less one of such an obsure subject.This book is a treasure and I urge anyone who loves photography to buy it whether you care about Galveston or not.I do care about Galveston and I love the fact that this book galvanized the city to save its unique history.As you look at the pictures in this book remember this is the Galveston that WAS, not that IS.Many of these dacaying building have been saved and restored.Galveston is a testament to what perservation and generous philanthropy can do for a city.The city is experiencing a renaissance and this book had a great deal to do with it, it makes me so proud for this American treasure.

Galveston that was
I expected to see pictures of Galveston as it was . This is a bunch of pictures of Galveston decayed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Galveston    3. Historic buildings    4. History - General    5. Pictorial works    6. Texas    7. U.S. Architecture - South    8. United States - State & Local - General    9. Vernacular Architecture    10. Photography & Photographs    11. USA   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Individual Photographer    3. Individual artists    4. Photo Techniques    5. Photography    6. Photography & Photographs    7. Photography As An Art    8. Photography / General   

Reviews (6)

Great art...totally worthless text
HCB was a master of the type of photography he practiced.The photographs speak for themselves.They are beautiful, they are classic and they will always transcend any words people speak about them.So, what's the point in weighing down the impact of these photographs with a text that is so pretentious and unreadable it turns off everyone but the pretentious reader?
Good concept, too many words
To put it short: half of the book is text. Out of 290 bw pictures 41 are drawings of H.C-B., some are photographs of other authors, some more are portraits relevant to people mentioned in text. I agree with other reviewers - choice is very good. The concept of the book and the important points are well chosen, too, but it' s filled with too many words. Zen and the art of the Street
Really an amazing book. I have come across many great "picture books" showing off fabulous reproductions of his work but if you want to read about what really drove the man to take some of the most amazing shots of the 20th century, pick up this book. It has "typically (outstanding) and (brilliant) academic French art crticism[sic] (and is) translated in(to) the English edition in a way that still manages to read like (outstanding) and (brilliant) academic French".Read more

Subjects:  1. 1908-    2. 1908-2004    3. Cartier-Bresson, Henri,    4. Criticism and interpretation    5. France    6. Individual Photographer    7. Individual Photographers And Their Work    8. Photo Techniques    9. Photographic criticism    10. Photography    11. Cartier-Bresson, Henri    12. Photography / Individual Photographer    13. Artless art    14. Exhibition Catalogs    15. Cartier-Bresson    16. Montier   

Reviews (2)

The "thick black surround"
... the "thick black surround" ... is something Cartier-Bresson insisted on.It's present in nearly all of his original prints.It's the result of filing back the negative carrier to show a small amount of the film border surrounding the image, and signifies that the image hasn't been cropped.His "decisive moment" theory required that the image not be altered in any way -- that the whole photograph be created in the moment in which it was taken.There are a few instances in which his prints don't have the border, and that always indicates that he cropped, usually for some remedial reason.The famous "Behind the Gare St. Lazare" photo of the man jumping across the puddle is a case in point.The original negative (shown in John Loengard's "Celebrating the Negative") is blurred on the left side because C-B shot through an opening in a wooden fence, and some of it intruded.It's an exeception. most disappointing
given the quality of other monographs by this publisher, the beauty of HCB's landscapes etc., and especially the price of this book, one has every right to expect something special.Sadly this book is far from special.Each illustration has a thick black surround which, frankly makes it impossible to concentrate on, and enjoy the image content.The quality of reproduction is average, somewhat lacking the sparkle of other monographs.Still worse are the vast acreages of blank white pages.What is going on here ??, the number of images could have been doubled and more, quite easily.Information on location, and context are frustratingly sparse - I do not know if HCB did keep a log of his locations, but it would be nice to have rather more than, say, "Japan".This rich and fascinating area of HCB's work deserves a proper presentation, rather than just something that seems to have been 'cobbled together', as this has. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1908-    2. Cartier-Bresson, Henri,    3. Cities and towns in art    4. Individual Photographer    5. Landscape photography    6. Photo Essays    7. Photoessays & Documentaries    8. Photography    9. Subjects & Themes - Travel - General    10. Photography / Individual Photographer   

Editorial Review

Henri Cartier-Bresson's Read more

Reviews (5)

Just a classic
Some of the definitive portraits of personalities have been made by Cartier-Bresson. Sartre, Camus, Guevara and Marilyn Monroe are here, in a sensitive work. Bresson's "decisive moment" concept also works to a kind of photography that is usually related to posed and static pictures. He goes one step beyond a face's register.

The BEST portraits in the world
If you are interested in portraits, then this is the book you MUST look at. It contains the best portraits ever made. Just get it, it can only enrich your life.

A true portraitist
C-B's portraits challenge his journalistic work with their grace and power.I almost find them to be more historically important than his other work for two reasons- 1) his style photojournalism is artful but perhapsless documentative than it could be. 2) The significant style with which hecaptures his often famous portaitees encapsulates their entire being- theyare often the first image to come to mind when one thinks of the sitter,they are simply extremely telling and powerful pictures. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1908-    2. Cartier-Bresson, Henri,    3. Celebrities    4. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    5. Individual Photographer    6. Individual Photographers And Their Work    7. Photo Essays    8. Photography    9. Portrait photography    10. Portraits    11. Subjects & Themes - Portraits    12. Cartier-Bresson, Henri    13. Photography / Portraits   

Reviews (3)

Inspirational, but limited
This collection of photographs from the author's two visits to Mexico are quite striking. Cartier-Bresson knows his craft well, and yet I feel a slight disappointment in the book, as I had hoped that his range of subject matter would be a little more varied, and perhaps show a few more pictures of the countryside. This collection of photos is nice, but consists mostly of shots of a sociological nature, from the poor classes of Mexican society. I understand that this is Cartier-Bresson's personal photo essay, but perhaps he could have widened his scope of Mexico to have included a wider array of subject matter. I do like the pictures, there just should have been more of a variance of them. If you like Cartier-Bresson, his book of India is simply fantastic.

an honest and delicate look at mexico
this is a very touching and intimate look at everyday life, butCartier-Brenson's experienced eye has also captured the powerful light that alludes to heat, the mood of poverty, and the history that pervades this country.At different points this volume is disturbing, humorous, spiritual, and abstract. a masterpiece.

Mexico uncovered
There is a consistant light which runs through Cartier-Bresson's work. It is the late afternoon light or the early morning glow, that enters his leica. We see it in the streets, behind the waitress in the Mexican bar asshe leans unknowingly towards Cartier-Bresson's lens. It's surrounded bythis light that Cartier-Bresson feels most at home, even in Mexico. Mexican notebooks is full of all Cartier-Bresson's hallmarks; real peoplein real situations. Circumstance and the click of his shutter fixes them intheir descisive moment. This is a collection no photojournalist should bewithout. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1908-2004    2. 20th century    3. Cartier-Bresson, Henri,    4. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    5. Documentary photography    6. Individual Photographer    7. Individual Photographers And Their Work    8. Mexico    9. Photo Essays    10. Photography    11. Pictorial works    12. Social conditions    13. Cartier-Bresson, Henri    14. Individual artists    15. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    16. Photographs: collections    17. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    18. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Photo Essays    3. Photography    4. Photography, Artistic