One of the titans of social documentary photography, Bristol is justly revered for his famous images of the Great Depression, World War II and Japan's postwar reconstruction. One of Life magazine's key photographers during its golden era, his work continues to astonish for the depth of its humanity and its compassionate insights.

From the late 1940s to early '60s, the great Malian photographer made indelible and insightful portraits of proudly self-aware men and women from a wide social strata, images that reveal the strength and determination of a country gradually transitioning from colonialism to independence.

Channeling inspiration from Robert Frank to Aaron Siskind, the Paris-based photographer in his aptly titled Enigma series symbolically conjures the teeming mass of Calcutta, India in mysterious, minimalist terms: a disorienting urban space delineated in shadows and silhouettes, entrances and exits, cut-throughs and cul-de-sacs.