'LIBERIA', CIRCA 1930, PRINTED 1997

IN 1977, HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON WROTE THE FOLLOWING IN A LETTER TO MUNKACSI'S DAUGHTER, JOAN. "PROBABLY IN 1931 OR 1932 I SAW A PHOTOGRAPH BY YOUR FATHER OF THREE BLACK CHILDREN RUNNING INTO THE SEA, AND I MUST SAY THAT IT IS THAT VERY PHOTOGRAPH WHICH WAS FOR ME THE SPARK THAT SET FIRE TO THE FIREWORKS....AND MADE ME SUDDENLY REALIZE THAT PHOTOGRAPHY COULD REACH ETERNITY THROUGH THE MOMENT. IT IS ONLY THAT ONE PHOTOGRAPH WHICH INFLUENCED ME. THERE IS IN THAT IMAGE SUCH INTENSITY, SPONTANEITY, SUCH A JOY OF LIFE, SUCH A PRODIGY, THAT I AM STILL DAZZLED BY IT EVEN TODAY."

GIVEN THE IMPACT THAT CARTIER-BRESSON'S WORK HAS HAD ON GENERATIONS OF YOUNGER PHOTOGRAPHERS THIS MUST BE ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE 20TH CENTURY.