Henri Cartier-Bresson: Europeans

In 1955, Henri Cartier-Bresson published "The Europeans", a collection of photographs taken over a period of five years. His portrait of the continent documented a landscape shadowed by the war, where people lived among ruins and still bore the mark of hunger. For this new book, over 40 years later, the celebrated photographer has brought together a far broader range of images, spanning the years from the late 1920s to the early 1970s. Cartier-Bresson has travelled across Europe, from the Scandinavian shield to the Yugoslavian "karst", from the Breton granites to the Irish bogs, in order to capture what it means to be European. Beyond nationalism and the particular characteristics of each culture and nation, he has found evidence of a greater identity, a family likeness shared by the people and the landscape. With his ability to capture the fragile reality of European life, Henri Cartier-Bresson once again underscores his reputation as one of the 20th century's most influential and original photographers.