Mint & Rare Podcast #5 - Henri Cartier-Bresson and his Cameras

September 10, 2025 Jo Geier

In this episode, Jo Geier, founder of Mint & Rare and Wetzlar Camera Auctions, sits down with Felix Hoffmann of Foto Arsenal Vienna to explore the legacy of Henri Cartier-Bresson – his life, his philosophy of the decisive moment, and the Leica cameras that shaped his work.

Henri Cartier-Bresson and His Cameras
Felix Hoffmann & Jo Geier

0:16 – Introduction with Jo Geier & Felix Hoffmann
0:56 – How the exhibition was prepared
4:28 – Henri Cartier-Bresson’s first cameras: Leica I, Leica II, Leica IIIc
6:24 – Exhibition photographs illustrating the philosophy of the decisive moment
10:12 – Focus on ordinary people: the socialist idea
11:39 – Vintage Leica advertising: traveling with Leica
12:47 – Funeral of Mahatma Gandhi
14:20 – Leica M3, Leica IIIg, 50mm and 35mm Summicron, Leica M6, Minilux
17:19 – More interesting facts about Cartier-Bresson and Leica
18:35 – More about personality of Henri Cartier-Bresson

Visit the exhibition until 21st of September: https://www.fotoarsenalwien.at/en

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Image credits & sources
1. George Hoyningen-Huene – Henri Cartier-Bresson with his first Leica I (Fondation Cartier-Bresson, Paris, 1935)© George Hoyningen-Huene Estate Archives
2. Leica II (Model D) – Source: Wetzlar Camera Auctions
3. Leitz Leica IIIc Chrome w/ Summitar 2/5cm – Source: https://www.jogeier.com/leitz-leica-i...
4. Henri Cartier-Bresson, Epiphanie, Piazza Navona, Rome, 1951 © Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
5. Henri Cartier-Bresson, Boy Carrying a Wine Bottle (Rue Mouffetard, Paris, 1954)
6. Jane Bown – Henri Cartier-Bresson with Leica M3, c.1957
7. Ara Güler – Henri Cartier-Bresson with Leica M3
8. Leica M6 with H.C.B. marked Summicron 50mm & personal note – Source: Photographica Auctionen © 2008
9. Henri Cartier-Bresson, Derrière la Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris, 1932 © Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
10. Leica IIIg Black ‘HCB’ – Source: Leitz Auction
11. Summicron 35mm f/2 Black Paint ‘Cartier-Bresson’ – Source: Leitz Auction
12. Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gandhi’s secretary at Gandhi’s funeral pyre, Delhi, India – Source: Phillips
13. Henri Cartier-Bresson with Leica M6 – Photo: REUTERS / Charles Platiau
14. Henri Cartier-Bresson with Leica Minilux – Photo: David Douglas Duncan