“Harlem, NY,” 1947. © Henri Cartier-Bresson

Though Henri Cartier-Bresson did not craft his photographic career by honing the advancements made to the medium by the advent of color film (he believed the color film of the 1950s to be too technically and esthetically limiting), other photographers carried the torch in understanding how to capture “the decisive moment” in hues that echo reality. “Cartier-Bresson: A Question of Colour,” on view until Sunday at the Somerset House in London, is a group exhibition that includes the work from photographers such as Ernst Haas, Fred Herzog, Joel Meyerowitz and Alex Webb, who brought Cartier-Bresson’s formal elements of photojournalism to life in vivid color. The exhibition includes ten photographs by Cartier-Bresson never before exhibited in the UK and 75 images from 14 internationally-recognized photographers.

–Lindsay Comstock

(more…)

© Ernst Haas/Getty Images. Pedestrians crossing a New York street in winter time cast long shadows, 1980.

Ernst Haas (Austrian/American 1921–1986) was a prolific commercial photographer, known for his vibrant color work. His personal work has been kept mostly private, though, and escaped posthumous appreciation. In an effort to restore his place in the photography canon, the Christophe Guye Galerie will soon exhibit a selection of little known large-format works and several rare dye- transfer prints. Some of the works were presented in Haas‘ solo exhibition at MoMA in 1962, the museum‘s very first exhibition of color photography. The exhibition ‘Color Correction’, and former Director of the Musée de l’Elysée, William Ewing’s corresponding book published by Steidl, uncovers the “other” side of Ernst Haas’ work.  The exhibition runs from January 20, 2012 through February 25, 2012.

-courtesy Christophe Guye Galerie.

(more…)