Magnum Magnum
) The world鈥檚 premier photo agency, Magnum, celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2007 with a book. In Magnum Magnum (edited by Brigitte Lardinois, Thames and Hudson,聽 568 pp., $80), 69 acclaimed photo documentarians edit and comment on each other鈥檚 work.
The original edition of the book was enclosed in a 鈥渟uitcase鈥� with a carrying handle to ease its 15-lb heft. This year it has been reissued for the holidays 鈥� seven pounds lighter and almost a third less costly.
Cofounders Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, David 鈥淐him鈥� Seymour, and George Rodger envisioned Magnum as a place where dedicated photographers could follow their own consciences when pursuing stories and these works are powerful testaments to the conviction of bearing witness.
But Magnum鈥檚 members have always gone further. They report the human condition as artists 鈥� evocative, intimate, graceful 鈥� inspiring a deeply personal response in the viewer. Though Magnum photographers have always created artistic images, in following the chronology of this work, one can see over time the vision change from straight journalism to聽 the personal.
Eve Arnold took on the formidable task of editing the master himself, Cartier-Bresson. It is a joy that she found images that are wonderful examples without leaning on his most famous works.
In the photo 鈥淣ear Trivandrum, Kerala, India 1966鈥� (above), the movement is a backward arch with arms stretched above the woman鈥檚 head. She and a man in a sarong lift a basket of what appears to be soil above their heads. The arch reveals the exertion needed to lift this weight.
It is an image you may have seen hundreds of times by other photographers, but coming across this one reminds the viewer of Cartier-Bresson鈥檚 singular brilliance. This everyday movement is more like a dance between the couple 鈥� life-giving and celebratory.
It is the vitality expressed, the individuality seen in his subjects that made Cartier-Bresson such a preeminent photographer. Arnold speaks of him with the gratitude of a student. 鈥淗e never failed to surprise me,鈥� she says, describing him as 鈥渢he poet with a camera.鈥�
At the other end of the chronology is Alec Soth, who became an associate in 2006 and uses a large format camera, definitely not practical in today鈥檚 24/7 news world. His images are quiet and a step removed from the immediate scene.
Soth is a cultural commentator, creating photographs that are a little askew, suggesting people and places hidden from view, existing on the edges of society. Lise Sarfati, who edited Soth鈥檚 work and who is herself interpretive in her portraiture, says of Soth, 鈥淎 great clarity, or one should say grace, lights up each picture. The lack of artifice reinforces the charms operating in his photographs.鈥�
Soth emulates Bresson鈥檚 grace but in his own visual language. A leather jacket with the words 鈥淐ry Baby鈥� across the back lies bunched up in a tangle of weeds, burrs and wildflowers. This is documentary, yet soft-spoken.
In 鈥淢agnum Magnum鈥� the selections are sometimes as surprising as they are engaging.聽 Early Magnum member Burt Glinn鈥檚 classic forms appear just before Jim Goldberg鈥檚 experimental approach with writing across images. The result is that 鈥淢agnum Magnum鈥� reads like a visual conversation among talented colleagues. And we are allowed to listen in.
Joanne Ciccarello is a staff photo editor.
