{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O205612"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O205612/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O205612","accessionNumber":"PH.588-1978","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"Palermo","type":"popular title"}],"summaryDescription":"The Victoria and Albert Museum has over 440 photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), a French photographer who is considered to be one of the fathers of photojournalism and masters of candid photography. He sought to capture the 'everyday' in his photographs and took great interest in recording human activity. He wrote, \"For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. In order to 'give a meaning' to the world, one has to feel involved in what one frames through the viewfinder. This attitude requires concentration, discipline of mind, sensitivity, and a sense of geometry. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.\" \r\n\r\nAs a reporter and co-founder of the Magnum photography agency, Cartier-Bresson accepted his responsibility to supply information to a world in a hurry. He documented the liberation of Paris, the collapse of the Nationalist regime in China, Gandhi's funeral and the partitioning of Berlin. Cartier-Bresson helped develop the street photography style that has influenced generations of photographers that followed.","physicalDescription":"Black and white photograph shot from a diagonal angle. In the foreground, two young boys joyfully run in the direction of the camera, playing with an old bicycle wheel. In the middle ground, a queue of traffic forms on the road.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Cartier-Bresson, Henri","id":"A3068"},"association":{"text":"photographer","id":"AAT25687"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"AAT14190"}],"techniques":[{"text":"silver","id":"AAT139114"},{"text":"photography","id":"AAT54225"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Gelatin silver print","categories":[{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"none","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLC","id":"THES49171"},"free":"","case":"MB2H","shelf":"DR","box":"2"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photograph","id":"AAT46300"}],[{"text":"gelatin silver print","id":"AAT128695"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Palermo","id":"x38812"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1972","earliest":"1972-01-01","latest":"1972-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"400","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"39.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"300","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"360","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"image","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"242","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"image","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions taken from departmental notes","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Black and white photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson depicting two young boys playing with an old bicycle wheel in Palermo.  Sicily, 1972.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Palermo","id":"x38812"},{"text":"Sicily","id":"x29142"},{"text":"Italy","id":"x28927"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"boys","id":"AAT247598"},{"text":"children","id":"x31526"},{"text":"games","id":"AAT69657"},{"text":"street","id":"AAT8247"},{"text":"street","id":"x35546"},{"text":"wheel","id":"AAT24976"},{"text":"bicycle","id":"AAT212636"},{"text":"traffic","id":"AAT55250"},{"text":"hearse","id":"AAT212770"},{"text":"residential","id":"AAT742"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"leisure","id":"AAT138173"},{"text":"recreation","id":"AAT69710"},{"text":"play","id":"x30250"},{"text":"traffic","id":"AAT55250"},{"text":"street","id":"x35546"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"As a reporter and co-founder of the Magnum photography agency, Cartier-Bresson spent four decades travelling the world as a photojournalist. Using a hand-held Leica camera, he sought to uncover the ‘everyday’ in his pictures. His unstaged scenes of children at play encapsulate his concept of the ‘decisive moment’ – a significant moment cut out in time – as he captures his young subjects running, dancing and jumping around. Boys run alongside a wheel in a Sicilian street, while teenage girls hold hands and cheerfully skip in Kyoto.","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["PH.588-1978"],"accessionNumberNum":"588","accessionNumberPrefix":"PH","accessionYear":1978,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-06-25","recordCreationDate":"2009-03-23","availableToBook":false}}