Henri Cartier-Bresson in India

This record of Cartier-Bresson's fascination with India over half a lifetime contains the very best of his photographs of that country, produced during six extended visits, the first at the time of Independence, the most recent in 1987. His images are shaped by an eye and a mind legendary for their empathy and for going to the heart of the matter. Cartier-Bresson's talent, his famous "mantle of invisibility" and his good connections with such figures as Nehru, allowed him to capture the quintessence of India - a land renowned for its contradictions and variety. His pictures of Hindus in refugee camps after the Partition or of beggars in Calcutta, speak with the same passion and authority as those of the Maharaja of Baroda's sumptuous birthday celebrations, or of the Mountbattens posed on the steps of Government House. Considerable space is given to his famous reportages, such as the astonishing sequence on the death and cremation of Gandhi. Above all, his skill selects the apparently ordinary faces and scenes from market, temple or countryside that define the spirit of a country.