Magnum Manifesto

Background information

"Seventy years of Magnum Photos - the richly illustrated story of an institutionalized idea that has long since become a myth. As legendary as the success story of Magnum is, the actual founding of this most famous of all photo agencies is shrouded in legend. Legend has it that five men - Robert CAPA, William Vandivert, Henri CARTIER-BRESSON, George RODGER and David SEYMOUR - gathered around a magnum bottle of champagne over lunch at MoMA in the spring of 1947 and decided to set up their own, very special photography cooperative to bring into being. Only this meeting is neither documented nor documented. The earliest surviving source is the entry in the New York Commercial Register on May 22, 1947 - a rather sober legal document that is here on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of 'Magnum Photos, Inc.' is reprinted for the first time.

Content

The volume 'Magnum Manifesto' is celebrating the agency's 70th birthday by showing not only - but also - the famous images that have made the Magnum archive into an 'inexhaustible reservoir of memories' over the past seven decades. Also included are reproductions of contracts and memos, lists of standardized terms, and letters that were the primary means of communication for members scattered around the world, especially in the early years. And the credo: no picture without accompanying text!" (Slightly adapted publisher's text, © Schirmer / Mosel Verlag, 2017)

Photographers covered in 'Magnum Manifesto' volume

Robert CAPA, William Vandivert, Henri CARTIER-BRESSON, George RODGER und David SEYMOUR

Photo books by the aforementioned photographers

• Robert CAPA
  Henri CARTIER-BRESSON
  George RODGER
  David SEYMOUR