{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O224617"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O224617/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O224617","accessionNumber":"PH.683-1978","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"Pro Fidel Castro Demonstration, New York City","type":"popular title"}],"summaryDescription":"Cartier-Bresson was fascinated by the United States. The French photographer first exhibited in New York City in 1933. ‘America made me’, he often said. Like many other European photographers, he was drawn to the country’s contradictions, seen here in the celebration of the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States – an unrecognised breakaway republic in the South during the American Civil War. As the playwright Arthur Miller wrote of Cartier-Bresson, he ‘reacted most feelingly to what in America he saw as related to its decay, its pain.’\n\nThe 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 of a number of wooden police barriers containing a group of people, mostly middle-aged women, who have come out to show support for Fidel Castro during his visit to New York in 1961. Almost all of them carry and wave flags; one woman has a sash with 'Welcome' written across it. Many of the figures have their mouths open, obviously shouting in celebration.","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"},{"text":"Caribbean","id":"THES286921"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"none","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"100","id":"THES49934"},"free":"","case":"WE","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photograph","id":"AAT46300"}],[{"text":"gelatin silver print","id":"AAT128695"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"New York","id":"x29030"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1960","earliest":"1960-01-01","latest":"1960-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"29.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"39.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions taken from departmental notes","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson, 'Pro Fidel Castro Demonstration, New York City', gelatin silver print, 1960","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"New York","id":"x29030"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Castro","id":"N4228"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"barriers","id":"AAT5043"},{"text":"crowd","id":"x35547"},{"text":"women","id":"AAT25943"},{"text":"flags","id":"AAT195678"},{"text":"sash","id":"AAT216864"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"crowd scenes","id":"x35547"},{"text":"celebration","id":"x37935"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<i>American Photographs</i> (V&amp;A, June 2025 - May 2027) \n\nHenri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004)\r\n<i><b>Pro Fidel Castro Demonstration, New York City</b></i>\n1960\r\n<i><b>Jefferson Davis Day, Virginia</b></i>\r\n1960, printed 1962\n\r\nCartier-Bresson was fascinated by the United States. ‘America made me’, the French photographer often said. Like many other European photographers, he was drawn to the country’s contradictions, seen here in the celebration of the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States during the American Civil War. As the playwright Arthur Miller wrote of Cartier-Bresson, he ‘reacted most feelingly to what in America he saw as related to its decay, its pain’.\r\n\nGelatin silver prints\r\nMuseum nos. PH.683, 674-1978","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["PH.683-1978"],"accessionNumberNum":"683","accessionNumberPrefix":"PH","accessionYear":1978,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-13","recordCreationDate":"2009-04-15","availableToBook":false}}