KRYN TACONIS (1918–1979)
Henri Cartier-Bresson with Leica, Paris 1953

Estimate: € 2.000–2.400

Gelatin silver print, printed in 1966

25,5 x 16,5 cm (10 x 6.5 in)

Photographer’s name stamp, “Magnum Photos” stamp, date stamp (print date “1966”) and several notations in unknown hands on the reverse

Henri Cartier-Bresson, the founding member of Magnum, is generally considered one of the key figures of 20th century photography. His concept of the “decisive moment”, published in 1952, made modern photography history and turned the Leica into the camera of the modern and mobile photographer. Kryn Taconis, who worked for Magnum from 1950 to 1960 and was one of Cartier-Bresson’s close collaborators, also used the versatile rangefinder camera. It enabled its users to work spontaneously, quickly and independently, making it particularly attractive to photo journalists. 1953, at the time the present portrait was taken, the native Dutchman Taconis was concentrating mainly on his work as a photo journalist, taking photographs in Europe and the Middle East, travelling through Africa and Australia; his photo features were published by the era’s great magazines, e.g. Life and Paris Match. The present portrait was taken in Paris. It shows Henri Cartier-Bresson, viewed in profile at the centre of the photograph. Ironically the consistant Leicaphotographer is looking through the viewfinder of a Canon (still a Leica copy) – a photograph with scarcity value. In 1959 Taconis moved to Toronto, where he worked as a freelance photographer and became one of Canada’s leading photo journalists during the 1960s and 1970s.

Start price: €1.400