Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography. He pioneered the genre of street photography and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment. He was also one of the founding members of Magnum photos in 1947. Working in black and white, his photographs seem to distill the chaos life into something pure. His refusal to either crop or manipulate his image feel provocative and refreshing and allows the modern viewer to see things exactly as they were.

In early 1947, Cartier Bresson, with Robert Capa, David Seymour, William Vandivert and George Rodger founded Magnum photos. Magnum was a cooperative picture agency owned by its members. The team split photo assignments among the members. Cartier-Bresson would be assigned to cover India and China. He achieved international recognition for his coverage of Gandhi’s  funeral in India in 1948 and the last stage of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

This photograph was taken in Sevilla a couple of years before the Spanish civil war. The image depicts young children socialising in ruins. The children are clearly in poverty judging by their clothing, dirt on their bodies and footwear. The fact that children are playing  in times of war (1930), it could be the photographer trying to convey war as just children playing games, which as a former soldier he is entitled to believe. Almost all of the children seem to be looking at the camera in a rather suspicious and disturbed manner which may be because of the unsafe environment they live in. Tension can be seen through the children’s faces which could also be what he is trying to convey to the rest of the world. He is showing what effect violence is having on innocent children through this photograph.