Cartier-Bresson was born on August 22, 1908 in Chanteloup, not far from Paris, France. He spent his early years at the Lycee Condorcet, but he never graduated. He studied painting with Andre Lhote. He had known Max Ernst for many years and it was Ernst who convinced Cartier-Bresson's father his son shouldn't go into the family textile business but should become a painter. On the other hand, when he was a teenager, he showed his paintings to Gertrude Stein. She advised him to go into textiles.

Looking for adventure, he went to Africa; during World War II he served in the French Army and was captured by the Germans in 1940. During the younger years of his life he worked in photography. He...