Henri Cartier-Bresson

I hesitate to post Henri Cartier-Bresson’s famous photos of Ramana because some people find them sad if not gruesome. But it must be done.

If you feel sad when you look at them, maybe it will help to remember Ramana’s famous words to devotees just before he died:

You say I am going away. But where can I go? I am always here.

You’ve probably seen that quote many times, but have you noticed that he said “am always” and not “will always be”?

Cartier-Bresson is one of my favorite photographers. Some people say he’s the greatest photographer of the twentieth century. He went to India six times and was the last person to photograph Ramana, Gandhi, and Aurobindo. As you can guess from the photos below, he was at Sri Ramanasramam when Ramana died.

Thomas Dorsett has posted a wonderful article, well worth reading, which gives reason to believe that of all the photos Cartier-Bresson took of Ramana, the first one below was his favorite:

Life is for the living, so here are a few others:

Further reading

Thomas Dorsett’s correspondance with Henri Cartier-Bresson about photos of Ramana

Henri Cartier-Bresson’s 1950 Tiruvannamai photos on Magnum Photos (his agency)

Article about the Sri Ramanasramam photo archive, September 2009

3 thoughts to “Henri Cartier-Bresson”

  1. I am trying to find a photograph of my late wife and my son who was very young… Its really not ego.. but I believe this picture was HCB inspired…. that is all….

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