November 6, 2007
Behind the image: My birthday present from Henri
Martine Franck
Henri Cartier-Bresson. 1992. © Martine Franck/Magnum Photos
It was my birthday and Henri asked me what I would like as a present and I told him that I would be so happy if he would make an autoportrait of himself in drawing. He went straight to work. He sat on our bed with a mirror posed in front of himself, I was literally lying back watching him when all of a sudden I saw the triple image that ensued. I slipped away to grab my Leica M3 with a 35mm lens, he was so concentrated and focused on what he was doing that I don't think he even realised that I had photographed him.
I did not publish the photograph until his 90th birthday when Ferdinando Scianna persuaded him to allow me to publish a selection of "snapshots" I had made of him over the years.
Even I was wary of photographing Henri as I knew he did not really like it. Then one day he asked me to make a passport photograph of himself and from then on it was a joke between us: "Just a passport photo."
Links:
» Album Henri Cartier-Bresson by Martine Franck
» Book Martine Franck: Photo Poche by Actes Sud (Signed at the Magnum Store)
» Book Martine Franck by Phaidon (Signed at the Magnum Store)
» Book Martine Franck: One Day To The Next (Aperture Monograph) (From Amazon)
» Book More signed books by Martine Franck (From the Magnum Store)
» Martine Franck's Magnum Portfolio
Published on the Magnum Blog on November 6, 2007
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