This past month, A Gallery For Fine Photography in New Orleans had a Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit. The print that jumped out at me was "Kashmir 1948 Muslim women praying at dawn in Srinagar" (indeed, this is the photo that turned me on to HCB.) The look of this photo, along with his other photos from Kashmir in 1948, is different from his other work. These pictures are so crisp and clear. My question: did HCB capture the natural light of Kashmir, or is this the result of technique, equipment, or printing?

-- John (johnfleetwood@hotmail.com), March 31, 2002

Answers

Having admired "Muslim Women Praying at Dawn" for many years, and having seen it in print and book form, my take on it is that it is heavily dodged and burned. The distant mountains are almost white, except for the tops where they meet the clouds; there they are black.

You can also note where the two women standing have been dodged. I haven't noticed the other Kashmir pictures' being of different order from the rest of his India work. They seem as clear as anything else.

I can't imagine he used different equipment for his trip to the north. He photographed in Punjab and Delhi in 1947-48.

HCB's photos of that extraordinarliy violent period are a bit quiet. Have you seen Margaret Bourke-White's photos of Partition?

-- Preston Merchant (merchant@speakeasy.org), March 31, 2002.

Preston, HC-B's photographs are always quiet, IMO and presumably this has something to do with his particular artistic vision.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), April 01, 2002.