The street is a theater, though with free admission. Our clothing, faces, and gestures tell the stories of our lives—as individuals and as members of communities. The handheld camera—nearly as quick as the eye—is an ideal tool for observing the spectacle of life.

Cartier-Bresson’s talent was both photographic and human. He was exceptionally good at anticipating how the world would be transformed as it passed through his lens and became an image. And wherever he found himself—among peasants or kings, saints or villains—he was quick to grasp who was who and what was what.

_{Henri Cartier-Bresson. San Fermines, Pamplona, Spain, 1952. Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris. © 2010 Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos, courtesy Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson.}