“Of course I am curious and when I arrive in a place I like to see and understand what happens around me. However, I need to travel slowly and I avoid plane trips. A photographer must not run but walk, tirelessly. Then he can seize what is on offer on the pavement, at the street corner, in life."
~ Henri Cartier-Bresson
(1908 - 2004)
ENQUIRE ABOUT THIS WORK
A small town in Southern Italy gives birth to another Bresson masterpiece. So many levels of story telling going on in one single frame. So many individual inter-generational activities are playing out, all connected by a sense of community and common humanity. The older women carrying the freshly baked bread and the lingering, playful children outside the entrance to the local church, all exquisitely framed by the structure of the steel railing.
Henri could be talking here about this image, one of his greatest. It has always worked on so many levels for me. You have the great respect for a way of life that has sustained its traditions, few of which have changed over the years. You observe the different generations, the older women carrying their loaves of bread, the young children - well, just being young children with their expressive joy. It is an image full of different shapes and lines and stories, the cobbled stones, the iron railings. The influence of religion “Ora pro Nobis” dominating the town square. It is a microcosm of a world observed by an unrivalled master of his craft, with tenderness and insight.
Italy has been very much on my mind the last two weeks as I have finally caught up watching Stanley Tucci’s beautiful and life affirming television series “Searching for Italy”. I urge you to watch it if you have not already done so. Ciao!
For any questions or enquiries please email peter@peterfetterman.com
