Simon & Schuster in collaboration with Éditions Verve of Paris
1952
first American edition
s. p.
pictorial boards designed by Henri Matisse, matching pictorial dust jacket
126 photos, 5 pl. color ill.; illustrated with full-page gravure reproductions
Buch
Text engl.; caption booklet separate. Printed by Draeger frères, Paris. - Other edition: Images a la sauvette. Photographies par Henri Cartier-Bresson. Paris: Èditions Verve 1952. - Original dustjacket of both the French and the American edition was designed by Henri Matisse. - „Coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson himself, "The decisive moment" refers to that single, instantaneous moment in time when the click of the shutter captures a scene for posterity. He captured and framed his images of everyday life instinctively, with a seemingly complete understanding for geometry and order within the frame. His photographs are infused with a sense of freshness that, even today, is unmistakable. - Cartier-Bresson''s photographic career was shaped by a passion for travel, which is represented here, in his best-known "chef d''oeuvre." The Decisive Moment features pictures of Spain, Mexico, the United States and India, in full-page gravure reproductions, all from his unique humanist perspective. - This first American edition [...] aptly represents his relatively short career as a photographer, one marked by an inherent trust in his intuitive eye.“ (Swann auction cat. 12.12.2008, lot 55).