The Incisive Moment
Henri Cartier-Bresson at work.
Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson would have turned 99 today. A co-founder of Magnum Photos, he was both a remarkable photojournalist and an artist trained in the techniques of classic painting and the avant-garde juxtapositions of Surrealism. In February 2007, Meghan O'Rourke analyzed Cartier-Bresson's work, observing that it "demonstrated two qualities that rarely go hand in hand: a formal, highly geometric acuity … in combination with an empathetic fascination with people." Click here to view a Magnum Photos slide show of his work.
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Meghan O'Rourke is Slate's culture critic and an advisory editor. She was previously an editor at The New Yorker. The Long Goodbye, a memoir about her mother's death, is now out in paperback.




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