Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908), French photographer. Born near Paris, Cartier-Bresson studied painting before turning to photography in 1931. He soon developed his famous technique of taking spontaneous photographs of everyday scenes using a small handheld camera. After the war, during which he worked with the Resistance, he helped to found the Magnum Photos agency in 1947. His photojournalism has appeared in magazines all over the world, while his portraits and travel photography have been published in a series of books. More recently he has returned to painting.