H. Cartier-Bresson, [Signed] Martin Parr - The English - Les Anglais - 2022

Rare signed copy on the title page by Martin Parr (1952 – 2025). 216 pages, 50 color photographs by Martin Parr and 50 black-and-white photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, with text in French and English by François Hébel. Very beautiful black cloth binding, verso and recto, titled in pink, with an illustrated dust jacket on both the front and back covers.

The book is designed double-sided.

On the front side: fifty color photographs by Martin Parr, mainly from the commission Black Country Stories (2009/2010), echo this. In the center of the book, face to face, is Henri Cartier-Bresson's fax, in which he admits to having had a somewhat hasty judgment, and Martin Parr's response. François Hébel, director of the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, reflects in an unpublished text on this 'reconciliation' made possible by the image, and on these two eras seen through two perspectives that, always with humor, point out the evolution of English customs.

A-side: fifty black-and-white photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, commissioned for the documentary Stop laughing – This is England, are presented for the first time in this volume.
In 1962, Henri Cartier-Bresson accepted a commission from the British television ITV/ABC for a documentary about northern England. Exhumed by the Cinémathèque Française last year, it had been made from photographs and was only broadcast once. It features unpublished photographs, offering a humorous portrait of the English at work and during their leisure time.
In 1989, Martin Parr, a photographer already recognized though controversial for his color photographs of the British middle class, applied to the cooperative agency Magnum Photos. At the time, Henri Cartier-Bresson, co-founder of the agency, strongly opposed it. A meeting between the two photographers ultimately led to a personal 'reconciliation' as well as the coexistence within the agency of their diametrically opposed concepts of photography. Martin Parr eventually joined the agency in 1994 and even served as president (2013-2017).

The interest of this book lies in nuancedly addressing these differences in perspective, which, according to Henri Cartier-Bresson, belong to 'two different solar systems.' Henri Cartier-Bresson's unpublished photographs resonate in a disturbing way with the shots taken by Martin Parr, over 20 years apart, in the same region of northern England. This book accompanied the exhibition 'Reconciliation' held at the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation from November 8, 2022, to January 29, 2023. (according to the Delpire website)

Copy in excellent condition, like new. This book is part of my personal collection and has been kept with the utmost care. Shipping is protected with reinforced packaging and guaranteed international tracking. In case of multiple purchases, combined shipping is possible, with a refund of any excess postal fees paid via Paypal.

0.8 kg excluding packaging