Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004) is one of the most influential and beloved figures in the history of photography. His inventive work of the early 1930s helped define the creative potential of modern photography.

Published to accompany an exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century is the first major publication to make full use of the extensive holdings of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson — including thousands of prints and a vast resource of documents relating to the photographer's life and work.

The heart of the book surveys Cartier-Bresson's career through 300 photographs divided into 12 chapters. While many of his most famous pictures are included, a great number of images have never been viewed even by specialists.

The extensive supporting material — featuring detailed chronologies of the photographer's professional travels and spreads of his picture stories as they appeared in magazines — is certain to revolutionize the study of Cartier-Bresson's work.

A wide-ranging essay by Peter Galassi, MOMA's Chief Curator of Photography, offers an entirely new understanding of Cartier-Bresson's extraordinary career and its overlapping contexts of journalism and art.

Author — Peter Galassi.

Hardcover. 448 pages (with 300 photographs). 10" × 12" (25 cm × 50 cm).