Seville, 1933
Gelatin silver print (printed 1950s)
9 ¼ × 14½ in
July 12, 2024
This photo is a masterful essay in mood. When Henri Cartier-Bresson traveled across Spain in 1933, the Surrealist movement was at the height of its international influence, and the shadowy geometry of the empty streets behind the boy in the foreground evoke the dreamlike cityscapes of Giorgio de Chirico. This was three years before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, but any air of disquiet is expressed introspectively. The young boy is turned away from the camera in seeming reflection, with the passageways behind him seeming to suggest a labyrinthian view into his thoughts.
