'Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Man, The Image & The World' showcases over 260 of Cartier-Bresson's photographs, selected by Cartier-Bresson and long-time friend and publisher Robert Delpire for an exhibition at the Bibliothèque nationale de France Paris in 2003 before Cartier-Bresson's death in 2004. The exhibition encompasses his portraits as well as his travels through Mexico, Indonesia, Europe, China, Japan, the United States and the Middle East, and presents some of Cartier-Bresson's most acclaimed images from the breadth of his career alongside a selection of his documentary films.

Henri Cartier-Bresson is responsible for some of the most iconic photographic images of portraiture and photojournalism. In many cases his photographs have become defining records of modern history, portraits of European culture from the 1930s to the 1970s, and examples of a 'decisive moment' — a phrase often used to describe Cartier-Bresson's works, which can illustrate action, emotion and an entire story in a single image. Cartier-Bresson's work focuses on humanity and, often preferring to blend into a situation, his camera captured faces and bodies full of emotion and intentions both intimate and bold.

A freelancer throughout his working life, Cartier-Bresson, together with fellow photojournalist Robert Capa, founded the Magnum photographic agency which not only elevated the art of photojournalism but won recognition and representation for photographers' interests.