HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON: CHINA 1948-1949, 1958

In December 1948, Henri Cartier-Bresson travelled to China at the request of Life magazine and stayed for ten months capturing on film some of the most spectacular moments in the China's history. He photographed Beijing in 'the last days of the Kuomintang' and bore witness to the new regime's takeover in Shanghai. HCB's long stay produced more than just 'reportage'. He typed notes for each camera roll, and corresponded with the Magnum Photo Agency and with his parents, and all the articles published at the time reproduced with his photographs were testament to the strength of his work. Deeply affected by the chaotic episodes during his Chinese adventure in Peking, Qingdao, Hangzhou and Nanking as well as Shanghai, he was fascinated by Chinese culture and later became a Buddhist. He wanted to return to China to see the effects of the change of regime and the planned return took place in 1958 in the middle of the 'Great Leap Forward' proclaimed by Mao Zedong. HCB travelled thousands of miles from a great dam of steelworks, from a new oil well to a nursery school, from a peasant village to a collective commune. His stealthy approach, expressive structure of his images and his self-effacing presence enabled him to see the true nature of his subjects. 'Personally, I'm interested almost exclusively in human beings.' His captions indicate two portfolios of 112 and 39 photographs for 1948-9 and 1958 respectively, containing sequences of images related to a place or an event which can stand alone. Here are men unloading barges by hand, construction of a swimming pool at Beijing University by the students themselves without the help of machines, a young woman dragging a very heavy load, the arrival of Communist troops after the departure of the KMT and looting, a smartly dressed couple at the Hong Kong Race Course October 1949, flooded Shanghai streets after a typhoon, a street vendor and his tiny naked son on his cart, a July parade with Chinese dragon, a huge telephone dial on the truck of the telephone workers, refugees in a train station, a pilgrim, a beggar, a tiny child waiting for rice to be distributed. These photographs allow us to reexamine both the published and unpublished versions in both American and European magazines and the book is a welcome addition to any photographer lover's bookshelf and an exciting new volume and one of the 20th century's most important photographers. 120 monochrome illustrations, map and parallel chronology of HCB and China, maps. 288pp, 24.9 x 29.7cm, beautifully printed by Thames & Hudson publishers.
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