“I took the picture in the fall of 1983, at sunset at the old docks in New Jersey with a view towards the World Trade towers in New York City. I had heard that there was a traditional Lovers’ Lane, a meeting place of young people in their cars, bringing booze and sometimes drugs. The sun was setting and the towers across the river were glowing before it became too dark to take more pictures.” – Thomas Hoepker

Magnum Square Print Sale

I was planning to write a story this morning on the Rise and Fall of National Geographic Magazine. Yet let me think about that one. I’ll write it later. Requires some thinking.

So the story I am writing instead is a bit different. And easy. The Amazing Continued Survival of Magnum Photos.

Magnum has outlived all of heretofore photo platform clients. All the big picture magazines where Magnum photographers cut their teeth, have now gone by the wayside. Yet Magnum photographers thrive and survive doing things their way.  70th Anniversary upcoming.

Sure, stories of Magnum‘s demise too have been out there in photoland since the beginning. Every year I hear rumours that Magnum is over…Yet…..

It’s a new day and Magnum is still here. Deservedly so. After all in a helter skelter world of visual noise in photography, Magnum alone stands tall. Even the other respected cooperatives like VII and Noor pay homage to Magnum. Our roots are their roots. Sure everybody grumbles especially the Magnum photographers, yet only Magnum stands for authorship, authorship and authorship.

The new Square Print Sale now going on at Magnum (http://store.magnumphotos.com/collections/square-prints-sale) is a new business model that works for everyone. Spend a hundred bucks and get an archival signed print by Davidson or Parr or D’Ágata and you’ve made a good investment. This is our 4th flash sale to great success. Why? Well this is a very very good deal and literally gives art value for those who may not be able to afford our full sized collector prints. Power to the people.

Some who may have bought at each sale now have 3 signed prints for $300. Unbelievable actually. Sure it works for Magnum too, yet this is just one of those symbiotic ventures where everyone comes out ahead.

The Magnum photographers themselves and staff are buying these prints.

Does selling inexpensive prints undervalue Magnum? I don’t think so.The power collectors will still invest in our larger prints. This is simply a different market. Yet will I think have even the more heavily pocketed collectors taking a look at the collector box. None of these prints will do anything but go up in price. Most likely people won’t re-sell their prints, yet everyone likes knowing their art purchases grow in value.

By the way,if you are a young photographer, aspire to Magnum. This will take some doing on your part. Do your homework and you will see there is nothing else quite like it. If you have something to say as a photographer, Magnum is the place to say it.

-dah-

 

Get your print here: http://store.magnumphotos.com/collections/square-prints-sale

 

“I like to feel close to the people I photograph. I want to establish a kind of trust and intimacy with them. This young woman was sitting in the front of a cab I boarded during one of my several trips to Guangzhou, China, in 1992. The safety grating protecting the driver divided us. She was really beautiful. Her sultry features were enhanced by the night lights, like in a movie. I’m sure I found the metal mesh annoying when I decided to take a picture of her, but its pattern created interesting contrasts on her face. Also, it prevented me from getting closer, perhaps too close, triggering some reaction in her, maybe a smile, or a self-conscious laugh. She was nearby and yet unreachable. She was so close, yet so far. Untouchable. That is how I remember the moment, but my memory is failing me here. Was she just another passenger, a stranger, or were we riding the cab together? The element of mystery, noticeable and enduring, is what still attracts me in that picture. I don’t know anything about her, yet I was close to her then.” — Patrick Zachmann
“It was my second shoot at the former Maze Prison in Northern Ireland, and I hadn’t a clue how to photograph it; what camera, what approach…. I was lost, and at that time, completely insecure about my own practice… Could I ever find my own voice, make something that could be actually good? On a winter morning, alone in the 360-acre prison site (ready for new prisoners in case the Peace Process collapsed), standing with a 5 x 4 inch plate camera that I had bought for virtually nothing in a bomb-damaged sale in Belfast when I was 14, I set up the camera and focused my head under the cloth, and realised, I was in the place where the bomber mostly likely had spent a lot of time.” — Donovan Wylie
“In 1996 after returning from the US-Mexico border, I showed my new work to Rebecca Norris, who I’d been seeing for some six months. When we came to this photograph from Nuevo Laredo, Rebecca smiled bemusedly and said, ‘muy romantico.’ Looking again, I began to see that it does indeed strike a different note. Although inhabited by those deep shadows that characterize much of my border work, this particular photograph is quieter, more lyrical. It’s as if it’s human moments—the couple embracing, the father holding his child—somehow manage to keep the darkness at bay, at least briefly. Photographers don’t just find photographs; sometimes photographs find photographers. In retrospect, it hardly seems surprising that this photograph found me when it did—as I was falling for the remarkable woman and lyrical photographer who’s the love of my life. Three years later, we printed this photograph on our wedding invitations.” — Alex Webb
“I always use the camera for more than taking pictures. I use it as an instrument to create intimacy and closeness in a poetic and direct way. In spite of photography’s seemingly concrete form, I try to expose layers in people that are not immediately visible, but nonetheless shape who we are and give meaning to our lives. I try not to focus on how things look – but how they feel. Some of the people I photograph become my friends, others I share only a short moment with. The pictures are something that grow from these encounters. When I photograph, I try to work by instinct as so as to connect and involve myself with the places I visit and the people I meet. Taking snapshots supports the feeling of something unpredictable and playful. I believe it is when pictures are unconsidered and irrational that they come to life; that they evolve from showing to being. In this photo, Miriam and her grandfather don’t talk – but I feel it right away. The touch between the young smooth skin and the old wrinkled. Miriam and her grandfather take care of each other. They take care of their memories and the time they have together.” – Jacob Aue Sobol
“This picture of the pianist was taken in Mariupol in June 2015, at the school of music during the rehearsal for the end of year examination. In photography I always look for the very narrow boundary within visible reality and intimacy with people, the moment in between fascination for a subject and its rational understanding. It’s what I call a relation of intimacy.” – Jérôme Sessini
“The reception is over and the guests have left. All except a young couple – two of the young people invited to the Nobel ceremonies to give them a chance to meet the great intellects of the day.” – David Seymour
“I shot an assignment for New York Magazine on a Bed Stuyvesant, Brooklyn street with a serious drug problem. There, I ran into a young black woman walking in the street and felt compelled to ask her permission about returning to the area on the next day in order to make a portrait of her with my medium format camera. I saw something in this young woman that could have been my life but for good fortune and the grace of God. She lived in an apartment consisting for the most part of one large room. There wasn’t much light in the room but I could see in the dim light other people who were sitting and some who seemed to be sleeping. They could have been friends or family. As I made the portrait on that next morning, I could see an angelic light of hopeful possibility for a better future in her face and for her child. It made me think of the pathways I had traveled in my own life and inside my quiet mind – I wished her the best of all the good luck that could possibly come her way.” – Eli Reed
“When it comes to intimate photographs, I become wary of their deceitful character. A good photographer can make a so-called ‘intimate’ portrait or scene of people he or she has absolutely no personal or emotional connection with. Rather, the idea of intimacy finds itself in the projection of the viewers’ own emotions triggered by subtle recognizable details, gestures, glances, actions and poses all brought together in an aesthetically-coherent, emotionally-charged photograph. The image Yoyo seems to portray is a transgender teenager who has just woken up from her sleep, with a roommate still dreaming by her feet. She is nude and photographed from a distance, with strong yet delicate artificial lighting, just as she rubs her eyes. A meticulously choreographed scene of a supposed intimate moment, yet rationally constructed according to specific visual criteria. Perhaps the intimacy in my work finds itself outside of the frame, in the relationship with people before and after a scene is photographed. The mutual consent to being part of a still, momentary connection mediated by the camera.” – Max Pinckers
“When I spotted an interesting scene or situation, I didn’t try to hide myself or my camera. Instead, I often approached the people involved. ‘Please,’ I said, ‘pay no attention to me. Just keep doing what you’re already doing.’ Believe it or not, they usually did. Once I even photographed a veteran prostitute on the job with one of her regulars. They didn’t mind. Afterward, when asked if I had gotten the pictures, I said that it had happened a bit fast; he then invited me to come back next Tuesday, when he would arrange for me to have all the time I needed.” – Wayne F. Miller, from Chicago’s South Side, 1946-1948
“In this picture, the relationship between a father and his young son reveals total intimacy between each other, as well as intimacy with the photographer who records that moment in time, who then transmits this feeling of intimacy with viewers wherever and whenever they see this photograph. This family was not rich in material things, but very rich in relationships, trust, and the kind of love that drives away fear. They are both at ease and completely comfortable in each other’s presence without any self-consciousness whatsoever. It doesn’t get any better than that.” – Steve McCurry
“Photography is the perfect occupation for the shy person. The camera gives one an excuse to be somewhere and it provides something to hide behind. I am shy and come from a Chapel background—uptight. During the 60’s, I had a very large flat in London which was continually full of ‘staying’ friends. One evening, by mistake, I opened the door on intimacy. I was extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable—they thought it very funny.” – David Hurn
“This is one of the very first pictures I took. It was 1956 at the top of Antibes lighthouse on the French Riviera and I was a young boy. The woman in the middle with her hands in her hair and a bright smile is my mother. As the wind blew up her skirt, and before Marilyn made the move famous, I stopped hiding behind her. I was 15 years old, but it didn’t take me seven years to develop the itch to take pictures!” – Guy Le Querrec
“My daughter, Marie, and I discovered this beluga whale at the New York Aquarium on Coney Island. I was in fact in New York for three weeks, attending that other aquarium, the Magnum Meeting. Little did my 11-year old daughter and I realize at the time, that this beautiful animal was in fact ‘Blanchon’, the hero of a very famous Canadian documentary film, Of Whales, the Moon and Men, directed by humanist filmmaker, Pierre Perrault. Eventually, Pierre became a dear friend. He was an incredible filmmaker, in the style of Leacock, Wiseman and Rouch. This image is like a cocktail of intimacy, bringing together my daughter, the great animal, and subliminally, my friend Pierre, our shared passion for humanist approaches and documentary films. I remember the guard at the aquarium was furious because Blanchon was a very curious animal, clearly happy to see somebody so close to the aquarium in a place not usually allowed to tourists. The other tourists, politely standing where they were supposed to, looked on in envy…” – Jean Gaumy
“You don’t need to see the whole person to produce a portrait that feels revealing, personal and intimate. Sometimes, a suggestion or a small detail may fuel the imagination, taking the picture away from being a simple description and making it more real and significant.” – Elliott Erwitt
“This year I spent a couple of months in Havana photographing a crew of Cuban disc jockeys who live and work at night. We were curious about each other and I became very close to these young, streetwise romantics. They love their country but are also at odds with it. They want to work, but not for a system that does not properly reward that work. They, like many Cubans, know how to hustle but are not hustlers at heart; they do it to survive. Having a foreign friend is valuable to them because they want to communicate with the modern world. They saw me as a useful bridge and perhaps in exchange, allowed me to closely observe and record their lives. A preacher once told me that people want to have a voice. They want to share their opinion with the world, but not always a face. A face makes some things too real; too visible. But I have found that the kind of sharing that allows both parties to deeply benefit, builds trust. With trust, sometimes that face is forgotten. The world is forgotten, and we are allowed to be present, to be intimate.” – Michael Christopher Brown
[Crewman signals another ship of an Allied convoy across the Atlantic from the U.S. to England], 1942 “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” – Robert Capa
“When I photograph a place, I return and return again; I drive the same roads, walk the same trails, eat the same food, sleep in the same rooms. Over time, everything becomes intimate and familiar: the smell of the air, the color of the dirt, the cut of a certain shadow, even the lines in someone’s hand. I absorb it. Sometimes I can close my eyes, and I can still see it.” – Matt Black
“There is war in Europe. In Switzerland, two people meet in the peaceful privacy of a photography studio — a vibrating mood. The photographer points a projector with a grid film onto the naked torso of the model. This photograph was created. The 1940 diary of my father reads: ‘A beautiful woman resembles a flower – she is beautiful in its external form, she has vibrations and harmony… But be happy with the beauty without searching for depth.’ ” – Marco Bischof, son of Werner Bischof
“The girl playing alone beneath wedding lights in Mumbai’s Dharavi slum is not the closest or rawest image I’ve taken. But it is somehow a subtly tender and magical moment, where I feel like I drift into this little girl’s frame of mind for a second. Whenever I feel, I somehow am there with that person, and I feel something that connects me. That is what I define as an intimate image, more than if the picture is really up close or in your face.” – Jonas Bendiksen
“This image links to intimacy in the sense that these young people, handing cobblestones to each other, are defining their youthful selves. Individuality, personality, are often thought to be constructed privately, in an intimate sphere. Here, this is a whole generation affirming its identity in the public space: fraternally passing cobblestones, brick by brick, building themselves up.” – Bruno Barbey
“The presence of the photographer changes the atmosphere the moment the subject becomes aware of the camera… What I learned was not technique, but that if the photographer cares about the people before the lens and is compassionate, much is given. It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument.” – Eve Arnold, from The Unretouched Woman. Knopf, 1976
“In 2008, my first child was born. Up until that point, my photographs as a ‘war photographer’ had been about the experiences of others in far away places. Now, for the first time, I found myself photographing my own family… my own experience. It was not a conscious decision. It was quite an organic and ordinary reaction, that of any new father. It didn’t occur to me that these photographs had anything to do with my ‘work’. But I now realize that these images were actually my life’s work and that every photograph I had made up to that moment was just a preparation to make these photographs of my family.” – Christopher Anderson
“Beyond the fundamental hypocrisy of photographic production that feeds on human misery with the pretense of disseminating information or raising awareness, the proliferation of compassionate iconography neutralizes discernment, tames brutal instincts, and induces the risk of safe intimacy and deceit under the autocratic reign of appearance. I choose to adopt hacker strategies, forging a secret, illicit, immoral language, deconstructing protocols built by the hegemonic ideology with the explicit intention of contaminating, perverting and destroying it. The act of photographing accepts no compromise: it involves pushing the physical limits of life and possessing the world through absorption and adsorption. Photography is a source of disorder because it carries within itself the seeds of action, unleashing the rage that makes bearable fear and desire. To be, to love, to think and to suffer are no longer enough. One has to be a saint or a mad man.” – Antoine d’Agata
“Intimacy can manifest itself in a photograph literally, showing actual intimacy between people, or be implied in the image through an act of deep internalization. A bit more mysterious… A tease maybe? For years as a photojournalist my job was to be didactic, but now my tack has changed: I still believe in bearing witness, yet I am way more inclined to leave my audience with unanswered questions. Why does everything need to be resolved? Isn’t there great pleasure in imagining what might be happening? I am too involved, too much a part of the story, for my work to still be considered photojournalism. Yet perhaps the new work may still fall into some interpretations of documentary. I don’t care. I’m simply on a river that’s taking me wherever it goes.” – David Alan Harvey

http://store.magnumphotos.com/collections/square-prints-sale

20 thoughts on “Magnum Square Print Sale”

  2. john gladdy

    Magnum has been a home to some of the finest photographers of the last 70 years or so. Some absolutely stunning imagery has been made(continues as well) and resides in the archives. large format books, well printed are put out fairly regularly and usually represent good value for the buyer, both in the price and the richness of images they contain. Those wanting larger work, for collections or personal enjoyment, can also purchase realistically sized and editioned prints. But to somehow claim that a snappy snap postcard sized print is somehow a collector piece or worth a hundred bucks as an investment is going a bit far…its a new marketing angle. If they were ten or fifteen bucks a piece, still way way way above production costs, people could buy them just for the enjoyment of the suberb imagery they contain…which is why you should buy pictures anyways.But If you like these images just for themselves and are not fooled by the ‘art’ label you would be better off screen grabbing a tiff and printing it yourself for pennies rather than paying a gallery price for a postcard.

  4. Jeremy Wade Shockley

    Fine opportunity all around! When it comes to collecting things, size is certainly overrated…in fact a smaller, well framed image will always draw me in closer as I investigate it’s mysteries & nuances!

    & certainly it does seem that Magnum has weathered many storms in this knowingly difficult industry, perhaps because they sell both stories (editorial) and art…perhaps.

    On another note. Not sure where “dialogues” live these days…Big shout out to the Burn community – especially DAH & Co. for their continued efforts to keep us connected! Since arriving in San Miguel de Allende last month i have had the pleasure of connecting with Micheal James Wright & Andrew Sullivan on numerous occasions — both of whom i first connected with here on Burn and previously Roadtrips…which seems almost like it was just yesterday right?!

    Here in Mexico for just a few more short days…if anyone else is in the neighborhood, beers on me!

    Best, Jeremy

  5. Frostfrog

    Mexico! Jeremy, wish I could go too. It’s been almost 25 years since I was last there. I agree with the big shout out to Burn and their big efforts and do miss the old dialogues, too. As I have stated before, I think it is Social Media fatigue that is kicking the guts out of Burn dialogue and so much else.

    I will be Arizona for one week in December. I wish it could be longer, so I could spend some time roaming around the country, maybe even find you, but with just one week I think we will pretty much stay put with family.

    Even though it is not an easy or a unified batch of pictures, I truly enjoyed not only looking at these but reading the thoughts of the photographers on what motivated them and why they had taken these particular shots. And in David’s, one can sure see in his work just how his journey is evolving. The human mind hits 70, keeps evolving, remolding the old in itself into something new. Pretty encouraging. I guess that’s one of the big reasons I keep coming back here – that, and to see what folks like you are up to.

    Now I got a task to finish before I go to bed tonight and I am squandering time – just like happens on social media.

  7. david alan harvey

    JOHN GLADDY

    Thanks for acknowledging the work from Magnum photographers for 70 years and for realizing our books and collector prints do indeed have a lasting value. Seems odd though that somehow you must think that we did not think this Square Sale over very carefully and are somehow trying to “fool” people into thinking they are buying art.

    First off, you are surely wise enough to know that production costs have nothing to do with anything. What is the value of the canvas and paint for the Mona Lisa? 10 bucks max? Production costs are, as you must well know, are not a factor for any art and don’t just include the cost of making the print anyway. You make prints, so you know.

    Suggesting a screen grab is about the silliest comment you have ever made. Is Elliott Erwitt gonna sign a screen grab? Saying we are selling at gallery prices a postcard is equally silly or grossly uninformed…

    Do you really believe any of us would sign something that we did not think was of value? Throw away 70 years of legacy for a fast buck? C’mon we have lasted 70 years for a reason. And one of those reasons is that we are not that stupid!!

    These are archival signed prints John. Smaller than the prints that cost between 5-25k yet only the size and the time limitation to buy are different.

    Don’t people who cannot afford a 5k print have a right to art?

    The great masters sold their paintings in the streets my friend and not to “collectors” anyway. The great unwashed masses bought their art. The same people who came in off the street to listen to Mozart or to see Romeo and Juliet at a price they could afford. If Magnum stands for anything, it stands for putting their work into hands of everyman. Hence most of it is in magazines and newspapers. Books are expensive to produce, so the price is high there, and a market for the expensive galleries does exist and so we fill that as well.

    Only because of the advent of the social media was a low priced print sale even possible…this is our fourth sale and we would not be doing it if it wasn’t working and we sure as hell would not do it if our buyers were not pleased and asking for more….

    creating a new market for young collectors will only enhance their overall photo education and lead them to be astute collectors for the future…anything that is one of a kind or limited in a world of mass production is i think a good thing for everyone….

    the buyers of our boxes of small prints seem to know something you do not know….and i promise you anyone buying one of these prints for a hundred bucks signed is getting a very good deal and the value will only go up…and of course those who do not think so, as you, i am sure still support a free market system where people can decide….hey we are farmers bringing our tomatoes to market….or like speakers on speakers corner….it is always take it or leave it…..

    fondly, david

  9. Imants

    the advent of the social media was a low priced print sale even possible…. probably not out of choice more out of survival

    Prints are for traders in finance eventually there is very little monetary value in what is depicted and its social /cultural value.

    But I guess it will keep Magnum afloat for a bit longer and its important to some especially those in the “western bloc” of nations
    talking about the old my new book is called “a book that was too lazy to see the internet coming.”

  11. david alan harvey

    JOHN GLADDY

    ha ha ..no i am not surprised you disagree John…it’s your role….unfortunately i see you only as a grumbler…a cynic…and with no cards to play..no cred….i wish to hell we could just see some work from you…then we might have something to talk about….very happy to publish you as i always have been…..but your words ring hollow without something on the table….the philosopher at the end of the bar, is in the end just at the end of the bar…..

    cheers, david

  12. david alan harvey

    IMANTS

    i don’t think the internet has destroyed anything…sure it’s eliminated some heretofore gatekeepers…which in fact makes everything a bit more democratic….levels the playing field…on Instagram for example everyone is equal…Burn itself exists mostly on Facebook and Instagram…..for sure it’s not an end game….books and exhibitions still the final home for the best work….yet nobody is going anywhere without an audience….this has always been true…yet now audience building is just different than before….and there has never been a time of technological change when many felt either left behind or that everything was turning to shit….yet the basics never change….those with something to say will indeed be heard…..

    it’s funny, people have always said that “Magnum might hang on a bit longer”…after 70 years i don’t think Magnum needs to hang on a bit longer…if it does fine…if it doesn’t, 70 years is a long time for any “movement”….

    cheers, david

  14. john gladdy

    Some cards being edited for an upcoming print magazine article. shot early August.

    iphone footage of computer screen.Chris Wilson and Agata Cardoso, Camden , London.

  16. Imants

    Of course the internet has not spent its time destroying just made it a hell of a lot better, I love that mob that can live off their phone, pay bills entertain, learn create socialize work create collections of stuff etc All they need is a bed……………. free from that cumbersome stuff invented by Gutenberg. Sure one still has to agree verify, acknowledge etc but just press the button and get on with life

    To me it’s all great, post some stuff on the net when I feel like http://www.etrouko.com/qw27.jpg

    Make books for others and stay anonymous, create my own books that few see, I can happily create camera>> software or ipad >software…… the real estate on a smartphone is a bit small for me. http://www.etrouko.com/qw16.jpg

    As for the work of the old masters they are slowly being locked up in vaults awaiting the next invoice for change of hands but someone has made an animated gif and posted it for all to see

  20. Paul

    John Gladdy…
    Interesting vids, both of them. Obviously I find the first one fresh and more interesting because it’s new to my eyes. Perhaps it’s time for you to move on from the second one and cover new ground. Get into that uncomfortable zone where in theory new work is usually created…
    But I’m not the right person to give anyone some advice.

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