Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Other Coronation

The coronation of George VI on 12 May 1937 was one of the biggest media events of the interwar period. While other photographers focused on the new King, his family and the ceremonial splendour of the day, Henri Cartier-Bresson turned his lens on the crowds that gathered in the streets of London to watch the pageantry.

In a witty reversal of the expected order of proceedings, he shows us ordinary people of all ages and walks of life, some climbing on monuments or each other's shoulders, others straining to get a better view with cardboard periscopes and mirrors on sticks. A few even slump on the ground, the festivities having proved too much. Presented alongside contemporary news clippings from around the world, these remarkable images reflect Cartier-Bresson's unmistakeable photographic eye and capture the British public at a unique historical moment.

About the Authors:

Henri Cartier-Bresson, born in 1908, began his career by studying painting before discovering photography in the early 1930s. In 1947 he founded the legendary cooperative agency Magnum Photos together with Robert Capa, David Seymour, William Vandivert and George Rodger. Cartier-Bresson left Magnum Photos in 1974 to devote himself to drawing and painting until his death in 2004. He is still considered one of the most important photographers of the twentieth century.

Clément Chéroux is director of the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation in Paris. He has also held senior curatorial positions at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.