As soon as artists (or is it journalists?) start talking about things like “the humanity of places” is when critics uncomfortably reach for adjectives like “platitudinous” and “melodramatic.” Likewise, whenever an artist (or is it a journalist?) nakedly sets out to capture beauty in this way, what always comes forth is that nagging question — Frank’s question of Cartier-Bresson — of whether beauty is enough, or whether something other than the beauty of it also needs to be happening. So I guess this is why I have failed, and will continue to fail, to write about Cartier-Bresson. The couple on the train in Romania. The young boys gathered in a sunny square in Madrid. The family having a picnic on the riverbank. I can’t imagine my life without images such as these. For me, the beauty simply has to be enough.
more from Jason Wilson at The Smart Set here.