In this article, we’ll take a look at the works of four legendary photographers. They’re Robert Doisneau, Ansel Easton Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Bob Capa. All of these artists capture the essence of their times and have a profound effect on our world. Read on to discover their work and find out what they have in common.
Robert Doisneau
Born in 1912, Robert Doisneau grew up in the suburbs of Paris. He first studied engraving and lithography at the Ecole Estienne and then became a camera assistant to sculptor Andre Vigneau. However, he soon gave up his career in lithography and went on to become a successful photographer as an assistant to Andre Vigneau.
Doisneau is perhaps best known for his 1950 photograph, Le Baiser de l’hôtel de Ville, which shows a couple kissing in the middle of a crowded Paris street. His work is notable for its ironic juxtapositions of contemporary Paris artlegends.org, and he is often influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andre Kertesz, and Eugene Atget. Doisneau’s photographs present a vision of human frailty, as well as the bourgeoisie.
Doisneau spent his time in the studio of his mentor Andre Vigneau, a modernist photographer who inspired Doisneau’s work. He sold his first photograph to Excelsior magazine in 1932 and continued his career as a street photographer. In 1939, he was fired from Renault for being late. In 1940, he joined the French army, where he used his photography skills to forge documents and escape from the Nazis.
Ansel Easton Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was a landscape and wildlife photographer from the United States who was also an environmentalist. He is best known for his black and white landscape photographs of the American West. He also helped found the Group f/64 and is credited with the development of the Zone System, which enables the artist to achieve the desired tonal range and exposure for a print. Ansel Easton Adams was one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Photographic Art.
Although his earliest ambition was to be a concert pianist, his artistic talents soon turned toward photography. After visiting the Yosemite National Park in 1916, Adams began taking photographs using his Kodak Brownie box. He later wrote that this trip ‘ushered in a new era for me’. He worked part-time as a photo finisher in San Francisco and began learning the ins and outs of darkroom photo development. He also attended art exhibitions and creative photography magazines.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer who was the founder of Magnum Photos. He studied painting and drawing in the 1920s and began photographing in 1947. His photography captured the world in many unique places, including China, Mexico, the United States, Japan, and Portugal. He also visited the Soviet Union, and he became the first Western photographer to photograph “freely” inside the Soviet Union.
The art world was introduced to Henri Cartier-Bresso at a very young age. Heri was the eldest of five children, and his mother encouraged his interest in art. His father, Andre Cartier-Bresson, was a strict man dedicated to running a successful textile business. However, Henri refused to follow in his father’s footsteps, and instead pursued a career in the arts.
Robert Capa
The life and career of Robert Capa are truly fascinating. Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1913, he grew up in a working-class Jewish family. His parents ran a dress salon. His father also worked as a tailor. He left Hungary when he was 17 and moved to Berlin, where he studied political science. He became bored with his classes and struggled to pay his living expenses, so he turned to photography as a means of support.
Aside from taking stunning photographs of the world’s most enchanting landscapes, Capa was also a very interesting and unconventional person. He was often a one-man party, selling Leica cameras to make money and sometimes even fishing in the Seine river. His lifestyle was unconventional, however, and was characterized by drunkenness and unreliability. In fact, he had many affairs, slept in noisy theaters, and often ate the most expensive food.