Exhibit: Photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson

Sumatra, Indonesia, 1952
In the catalogue to the show, Peter Galassi, MoMA's chief curator of photography and the organizer of the exhibit, reproduces this image alongside the two on the roll that precede it and follow it. What emerges is a small exegesis of how the photographer worked. Having found his ideal arrangement of rice paddies and reflections, Cartier-Bresson "waited until a turbaned woman appeared on the embankment pathway, perfectly positioned to anchor the image."

• Article: Big Picture