"Magnum is a community of thought, a shared human quality, a curiosity about what is going on in the world, a respect for what is going on, and a desire to transcribe it visually"
Henri Cartier-Bresson
The summer issue of Aperture has arrived and includes an essay by Gerry Badger on Magnum. It makes me miss the days when the photo essay was part of general culture but motivated me to spend some time at Magnum in Motion again to view the various essays, current and historic (Elliott Erwitt's Personal Best is particularly delightful). Reading Badger's history I am impressed by the Cooperative's ability to survive and transcend the various disagreements and "squabbles" in order to adopt the above quote as their mission statement just last year.
As to the Art vs.Photojournalism debate, I refuse to be put in a position to choose and generally find the people pushing it to be self serving rather than enlightening. Although it seems Art believes it has the upper hand at the moment, as long as quality is the inherent motivating factor for Magnum photographers, I expect they will continue to be the gold standard for another 60 years.
Posts
