New-to-me

I saw this terrific, new-to-me Cartier-Bresson at the current MoMA show. Bankers Trust, 1960:


(Sorry - click here for bigger version).

Look a bit, and you can begin to imagine what is happening. The male boss, on the phone, trying to talk quietly so that his (younger) female secretary won't hear the conversation. He edges away from the desk, tugging the corded phone gently. Obviously embarrassed about something. The call's probably from his wife. Or a mistress.

The secretary, legs enticingly crossed (and forming a pattern continued by her sweater), uncomfortable, trying not to overhear the conversation. Bored. She wants to get on with the dictation and go home.

The prancing stallion on the wall, facing toward male boss. The ducks as well.

And, of course, it's formally tight. The picture pulls in 4 directions: Secretary faces us, boss faces right, and two empty chairs, one facing left and the other facing away from us (the one closest to us, the viewers).

Hard to believe that Bankers Trust actually used this for its 1960 Annual Report. Apocryphal?

Vintage HCB.