After Paris and Europe, Cartier-Bresson’s second love was Asia. He spent a lot of time across the region after the war, capturing a journey of images across China, India, Kashmir, and Southeast Asia. He was there at the death of Gandhi, and his picture firmed the event’s decisive moment. He had a particular fondness of Indonesia, and married Ratna Mohini, a Javanese dancer.
Photo-Essay: The Great Leap Forward China, By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson’s ambitious 1958 photo essay on the Great Leap Forward, Mao Tse-tung’s intensive program of forced industrialization. He worked steadily for four months in China, and although he was closely monitored by the authorities, he returned with a very substantial body of work, rich in concrete detail.