Around 1981 when I was merely a teen, I showed my mother a book of HC-B's photos, and she suddenly got spooked out of her mind because this one showed my much older brother, who had died the year before. And indeed it looks exactly like him, and he did work in Paris in that period and could be counted on to kiss ladies at any opportunity.
For those not familiar with Henri Cartier-Bresson, he is/was perhaps the most famous photographer in the world next to Ansel Adams, and one I look to more than Adams because of HC-B's street photography style in which he caught the perfect composition in the perfect moment. Apart from André Kertész, very few photographers have ever had the control over the composition that Cartier-Bresson had.
Pascal sez:
So, Big Bro also had a keen eye for pretty lassies, aye? Must be in the genes...
Just had a more "hands-on" approach than introverted (and less trouble-prone) Eo. ;-)
Yep. Like our father, who was really hands-on indeed. Dad and his girlfriend once visited one of my early art exhibitions in Copenhagen, and one of my friends turned up on rollerskates, a pretty and delightful girl. In the way he later referred to her, it was clear that he thought she and I was an item. He simply couldn't imagine any other relationship with a pretty woman.
And I let him believe it, partly because it boosted my geeky ego, and partly to make him feel better. I suspect my parents sometimes speculated I was gay because I never brought home any girlfriends. :)
Update: my older sister wants me to find a photo of her from a famous photographer. She was in Toronto in 1969, so if you have any leads... (she was a hot young woman in the time of the miniskirt and see-through blouses, so it should be worthwhile).
Not an asexual like his kid brother, then!
ReplyDeleteBrian H.
You said it. Aside from physical likeness when we were young, we were as different as two brothers can be. I was quiet, introverted, and he was charming and extroverted, and sometimes got into trouble.
ReplyDeleteWhy not visit Diderot and snap a modern recreation of the scene.
ReplyDeleteFinding a god like that may be difficult, however.
Yeah, he had no trouble catching the girls, I believe.
ReplyDeletesorry, typo: dog.
ReplyDeleteHahaha!
ReplyDeleteThat must be some kind of Freudian slip.
I guess if one really wanted, one might find a similar dog. Heck, the café, if still there, is surely much different.
Wow, spooky indeed! If I didn't know you well, I'd suspect pathological bragging.
ReplyDeleteSo, Big Bro also had a keen eye for pretty lassies, aye? Must be in the genes...
Just had a more "hands-on" approach than introverted (and less trouble-prone) Eo. ;-)
TTL,
For the recreation, why not the sibling who looked so much like him at the same age, and with one of the missies he has no trouble getting to undress for a shoot?
The main problem I see, is that he can't be both behing the camera and in the scene. Even with a remote control and mini-screen, his concentration would be compromised.
Especially since we know how much he'd need to concentrate for properly recreating that scene! :-)
I just read that "Yesterday and Today" identical photos are the latest craze on the internet. Lots of people recreate some of their childhood/baby photos with their present selves for the sake of the contrast.
("So, Mr Stobblehouse, ready to sign that contrast?")
"sorry, typo: dog."
Well, no harm done. He WAS also quite handsome... ;-)
"the café, if still there, is surely much different."
A café where Henri Cartier-Bresson took one of his photos? Don't be so sure.
The French are known for preserving places with a culturally meaningful past.
And the year? "69, dude!" - Bill & Ted's Most Excellent Adventure
Another Freudian voucher?...
Well, I'd do it, except it's 25 years and 25 kilos too late. :)
ReplyDeleteHe simply couldn't imagine any other relationship with a pretty woman.
ReplyDeleteI can't either, actually!
"my older sister wants me to find a photo of her from a famous photographer. She was in Toronto in 1969, so if you have any leads..."
ReplyDeleteROTFL!! A tall order indeed!! Silly me who thought my siblings were sometimes unreasonable...
Joe, you're a real Dick.
ReplyDeleteHe simply couldn't imagine any other relationship with a pretty woman.
ReplyDeleteCome on Joe, there must be some times when you had pretty friends who were girls, and the thought never entered...
"my older sister wants me to find a photo of her from a famous photographer. She was in Toronto in 1969, so if you have any leads..."
ReplyDeleteFamousPhotographer.com is registered by Christian FOURNIER in Paris, France. Maybe after photographing all the Toronto lassies, he moved to this side of the big water hoping to find more sisters to shoot?
I have some left from my schooldays. But I'm sure you can get them from any office supply store.
Big E: Joe, you're a real Dick.
ReplyDeleteGuilty as charged.
alex:Come on Joe, there must be some times when you had pretty friends who were girls, and the thought never entered...
Hm...I'm thinking...
Eolake, the difference from the years is the whole point, "old" buddy. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe end result is supposed to be a montage of the two similar photos side by side.
I love the dog's look of disbelief: "Wow! They're going at it like foxes!"
Joe Dick can't imagine any other relationship with a pretty woman either.
Well, I know I can. But why would I want to do that? ;-)
It's hard enough to understand women as it is, let us men not confuse them by becoming complicated as well.
Women seek security. Nothing is more reassuring than a predictable life companion, no matter how infuriating his machismo often gets.
[Just kidding, ladies. I know some of you actually LOVE a stimulating intellectual challenge. And nothing's more stimulating than a non-macho hetero! Except maybe, to us guys, a pretty busty blonde WITH brains.]
"(she was a hot young woman in the time of the miniskirt and see-through blouses, so it should be worthwhile)."
Oy veyizmihr, how unlucky can one get? I only became a babe magnet two years later, so we couldn't have met in 69.
But there's no question about it, in 71 I was the cutest newborn you'd ever seen. ;-)
And in school, boys 10 years older than I were jealous of my popularity. Always had a group of nubile missies swooning at my every word at recess. Really.
Alex suggested...
"Come on Joe, there must be some times when you had pretty friends who were girls, and the thought never entered..."
What, are you callin' him thick or sumpin'?