Cartier-Bresson, Henri

1908 - Henri Cartier-Bresson born on the 22nd of August in Chanteloup-en-Brie, near Paris, France, the eldest of five children. He was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism, an early adopter of 35mm format, and the master of candid photography. He helped develop the "street photography" style that has influenced generations of photographers that followed.

1927 - At the age of 19, Cartier-Bresson entered a private art school and the Lhote Academy, the Parisian studio of the Cubist painter and sculptor André Lhote.

1928 - 1929 - Attended the University of Cambridge studying English art and literature and became bilingual.

1930 - He did his mandatory service in the French Army stationed at Le Bourget, near Paris. He remembered, "And I had quite a hard time of it, too, because I was toting Joyce under my arm and a Lebel rifle on my shoulder."

1931 - Once out of the Army and after having read Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Cartier-Bresson sought adventure on the Côte d'Ivoire, within French colonial Africa. He wrote, "I left Lhote's studio because I did not want to enter into that systematic spirit.

1934 - Iin Mexico, he shared an exhibition with Manuel Alvarez Bravo.

1937 - Married a Javanese dancer, Ratna Mohini.

2004 - Died on the 3rd of August in Céreste (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France) in 2004, at 95. No cause of death was provided. He was buried in the Cimetière de Montjustin, Alpes de Haute Provence, France.