26 November 2014
The photographic agency Magnum was set up on May 22, 1947, after long meetings at the tables of the MoMA in New York. Its founders had a special project in mind, one that could bring about a radical transformation of the profession of photojournalism: in the first place, claiming the right to ownership of the negatives so as not to lose control over distribution of the pictures. And then they (literally) divided up the globe between themselves: the East went to Henri Cartier-Bresson, Europe to David Seymour, America to William Vandivert and the Middle East and Africa to George Rodger, while Robert Capa was left free to roam the world. Since the late forties, there is no area or conflict that Magnum has not covered, giving rise in the process to an extraordinary poetics, based on total respect for the subject photographed and high quality of the image. Now an exhibition at the Museo del Violino in Cremona, curated by Marco Minuz, retraces the history of the collective through 120 of the most striking shots ever taken by its photojournalists.
La nascita di Magnum
Museo del Violino
A cura di Marco Minuz
Cremona
31 ottobre 2014 > 8 febbraio 2015
Muslim women on the slopes of Hari Parbal Hill, praying toward the sun rising behind the Himalayas. Srinagar, Kashmir, India. 1948. © Henri Cartier-Bresson – Magnum Photos
Gandhi dictates a message, just before breaking his fast. Birla House, Dehli, India. 1948. © Henri Cartier-Bresson – Magnum Photos.
Refugees from the civil war areas. Ionannina, Greece. 1948. © David Seymour – Magnum Photos.
Black seminarists playing volley-ball. Vatican, Italy. 1949. © David Seymour – Magnum Photos.
A peasant girl leading her family’s horse back from the fields to her cave home. Matera, Basilicata, Italy. 1948. © David Seymour – Magnum Photos.
A young unmarried girl of the Messakin Tiwal tribe. Kordofan, Sudan. 1949. © George Rodger – Magnum Photos.
Immigrants arriving at Sha’ar Ha’aliyah at the camp of Rosh Hay’n, where they had to stay until housing was found for them. Haïfa, Israël. 1948. © Robert Capa – International Center of Photography – Magnum Photos.
Former member of the Barcelona Philharmonic at a concentration camp for Spanish refugees. Bram, France. March 1939. © Robert Capa – International Center of Photography – Magnum Photos.
A bracelet fighter of Kao Nyaro tribe challenges a fellow tribesman to come and fight. Kordofan, Sudan. 1949. © George Rodger – Magnum Photos.