Henri Cartier-Bresson

[Gary J Toop <gtoop@uoguelph.ca>]

	I had a look through the Pop Photo piece on HCB and in the 
interview portion at the end of the article, he laments the increasing 
emphasis on scientific knowledge in contrast to other kinds of knowledge 
and says that painting and the arts provide alternative ways of knowing 
and thinking about the world.  He also says that he does not want to 
comment on his pictures;  he wants them to be interpretted and 
understood without his commentary.  This view could account for his 
unwillingness to talk about technique over the last 30 years or so:  to 
do so would draw attention to an aspect of his pictures that he would 
prefer people to not attend to, both because it is a distraction from the 
content and form of the pictures and because it would involve approaching 
the pictures by means of a way of understanding and knowing that he 
thinks is over-emphasized.  
	It sounds as though those of use who are curious to know a 
little more about his material will have our work cut out for us. 

Gary