Viva Bakunin - Death of Henri Cartier Bresson

hydrarchist writes ... ok I just translated this statement from the Confédération Nationale du Travail Bureau confédéral Secrétariat médias medias@cnt-f.org CNT, because none of the other obituaries that I've seen give visibility to his libertarianism. HCB died August 3rd at the age of 95.

Death of an Anarchist

On the death of Henri Cartier Bresson: the CNT salutes the man of all liberties and every necessary escape.

The photographic genius that he was, known and recognised internationally, tirelessly answered those who asked him about his photographic compositions: "The technique has no importance! It's the point of view that matters...." And Henri Cartier Bresson never hid his point of view. On the contrary, he never missed an opportunity to let fly his war-cry during interviews: "Long live Bakunin!". A convinced and declared libertarian, Henri Cartier Bresson tirelessly photographed the world of labour, applying himself from 1931 to denounce of man's alientation before machines. He was present in social struggles, on every continent and, of course, in Spain during the war of 1936 where he made a film about the republican hospitals.

It was because of his libertarian convictions that he enthusiastically agreed to take part in the international demonstration for "Another Future" organised by the CNT on the 1st May 2000. Within the framework of this demondatration, Bresson exhibited thirty of his photographs for a month at the Louise Michel space on the Rue des Cascades, chosen from amongst thousands, so as to convey "A Libertarian View", in this instance his own.... Five themes were addressed: the condition of the worker, social struggles, state oppression, real socialism and "another future", which is to say freedom, poetry, love and humour. The CNT bids him a final farewell and will continue the fight for freedom, for another future unshackled from capitalism, its injustices and alientation."