Magnum Photo Agency

Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, David Seymour, George Rodger and Bill Vandivert.

The establishment of Magnum Photo Agency itself is also legendary. As early as the spring of 1936, outside the recruitment examination room of the Paris Press Agency in France, three young people who had failed, the young Frenchman Henri Cartier-Bresson, the Hungarian Robert Capa and the Polish Jew Seymour, were admitted. Found a common language in the cafe and planned a photographer's own joint venture. Ten years later, in the spring of 1947, Capa presided over the establishment of Magnum Photo Agency in the restaurant of the Museum of Modern Art on West 53rd Street in New York, USA, and established the Magnum New York and Paris departments.

Cartier Bresson is one of the most important photographers in France and the world. Died in 2004.

He crossed the north and south of the Yangtze River in China from August 1948 to April 1949, and the works he took vividly showed the historical moment of China's political transition. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Bresson traveled all over the world, including India, Japan, the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia. In 1952, Bresson published his masterpiece "The Decisive Moment", which provided important concepts for the aesthetics of images.

Robert Capa was a famous war photographer. He was born in Budapest in 1913. He determined to be a photographer when he was 17 years old.

George Roger is one of the famous British photographers. During World War II, he photographed the road construction on the China-Burma border and the Normandy landings.

Seymour was a Polish Jew who was shot and killed while filming in the Gaza Strip in 1956. Magnum is the name of a large-capacity bottle of champagne in France, often consumed during celebrations and carnivals. In 1947, named Magnum, which means "great and tenacious" in Latin, the world's first international independent rights organization for news photographers was established, and it was also the world's first photo cooperative. It is by far the most important photography agency in the world. The next year, a branch office was opened in New York, USA.

When human history is recorded through images, we trace the process of the contemporary world in the 60 years since World War II, ranging from the independence of nation-states, the Cold War between the East and the West, natural and man-made disasters, to the development of fashion, and the changes in daily life. Whenever there are changes, Magnum photographers arrive at the scene as soon as possible, and with their firm belief in revealing the truth and their courage and tenacity at the cost of their lives, they provide the most touching and touching information to people from different corners of the world, with different cultural and religious backgrounds. Realistic images. These photographers, who come from different countries and nationalities, whether men, women, old or young, all abide by Magnum's first creed: "Photojournalism cares about human beings." It is this loud and clear slogan of "care for humanity" that clarifies the professional ethics of photojournalism and establishes the international standards for photojournalism.

Almost all major political and cultural events in the contemporary world have not escaped the eyes of Magnum Photo Agency photographers. Apartheid in South Africa starting in the 1960s, pollution in the Japanese village of Minamata, gold mining in Brazil, the U.S. war in Vietnam, the May Storm in France, the Afghan war in the 1980s, the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, and the United States that continues to this day War on Iraq. The context of contemporary history is clearly, keenly and powerfully displayed in the negatives of Magnum photographers. It is shocking and arouses people's reflection. This is also the purpose of Magnum Photo Agency.

In the 1950s and 1960s, it was the golden age of magazines and media such as the American Life, the French Paris Match, and the German Picture, which also needed a large number of extended and in-depth themes. Photography. Therefore, the first 10 years of Magnum Photo Agency were also a prosperous period for news and documentary photography.

The enduring legend of Magnum Photos was created by photographers who spent their lives and willpower on photography. Whether it is the photographic career of the four founders of Magnum, or the ups and downs of every other photographer who has not exceeded 80 so far, it is enough to reflect the power of its group.

Magnum Photos was announced as a syndicate of photographers. All members were working photographers, who selected their own editors and staff, and formulated policies for the delivery and promotion of their works. They have no boss, and every photographer is also a boss, which is an equal-share system. For example, the profits earned from photography are distributed according to the amount of works submitted by individuals. Over the past 30 years, many outstanding photojournalists have been members of Magnum. Today, the organizational structure has changed. Some young photographers who are junior members of Magnum submit their works on a commission basis. For this reason, joining Magnum requires a relatively complex and long-term assessment process. You first submit a work to a jury of all Magnum members and, if approved by a majority vote, you can start work as a trainee. At least two years later, if you submit another work, one-third of the votes must be passed. After another submission and voting, you can become a formal member of Magnum, and you will also own shares of Magnum. Therefore, over the past 60 years, Magnum's members have been strictly controlled, with a total of no more than 80 people. The structure of Magnum Photos clearly belongs to the philosophy of a leftist organization.

Robert Capa

During the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Capa captured the moment when a soldier was about to fall after being shot on the Spanish battlefield. This work "Death of a Spanish Soldier" makes people feel immersed in the scene. The feeling of death, the shock and emptiness of death immediately shocked the photography world at that time, becoming an immortal work of war photography and Capa's legacy.

Capa's lens pointed to war all his life. He said: "The camera itself cannot prevent war, but the photos taken by the camera can expose the war and prevent the development of the war."

1938 As the only Allied war correspondent who could cover the Chinese theater during the Anti-Japanese War, Capa photographed the Battle of Taierzhuang in China.

In 1944, Capa’s battlefield photo full of trembling images became a precious portrayal of the Normandy landing. Capa was called "The Lucky One" by his colleagues. He photographed the war many times, always bravely rushing to the forefront to obtain the most vivid images.

On the Vietnam battlefield in 1954, Capa was struck by a mine and died at the age of 41.

In 1955, the American "Life" magazine and the "Overseas Correspondents' Club" established the "Robert Capa Gold Medal" to encourage photojournalists who have made achievements in news photography.

In 1966, the United States established the "Photography Foundation that Cares about People" to commemorate Capa and other photographers who lost their lives at Magnum Photos.