Synopsis
The photographs of Henri Cartier-Bresson were the first ever to be displayed in the Louvre, Paris. In this film the world-famous photographer turns his lens on the Québec scene, finding there the same fascination with form and movement that gives his work a mark of individuality.
A word from Tënk
While Cartier-Bresson's work enjoys undeniable international renown, his time in Quebec, and the resulting film, remain strangely unknown to this day. It was at the invitation of the NFB that the great photographer visited the Belle Province to observe the changes experienced by this distinct society in the throes of modernisation and on the eve of the Quiet Revolution. Cartier-Bresson began by documenting Quebec's terroir, but it was his shots of Montreal and its militant youth that gave this photo essay its distinctive character, and its importance as a historical archive document. Rarely broadcast, the film was only made available online very recently, and it richly deserves to be rediscovered.
Frédéric Savard
Archivist and programmer
