The Fondation HCB offers a new perspective on the work of American photographer Paul Strand (1890‑1976) from the collections of the Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid. While Strand is often celebrated as a pioneer of straight photography, this exhibition also addresses the deeply political dimension of his work.

The Fondation HCB is pleased to present an original dialogue between the Mexican photographs of Helen Levitt (1913-2009) and those of Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004). The two photographers first met in New York in the spring of 1935. Cartier-Bresson had just spent a year in Mexico, while the American had only just started photographing the theater of New York street life. In 1941, fascinated by Cartier-Bresson’s work, Levitt decided to visit the same destination. The two voyages to Mexico turned out to be pivotal points at the beginning of their long careers, during which the two photographers each forged their own respective conceptions of photography.