Throughout that period MAGNUM never ceased to supply photographs that have become part of the world’s collective memory – pictures of landmark events like the Russian army’s invasion of Prague in 1968 and the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in Beijing in 1989. The exhibition uses photographs, books and texts to illustrate the history of MAGNUM year by year and gives visitors the opportunity to view work by 83 photographers.
MAGNUM was established in 1947 by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David Seymour. They were convinced that photography was the best medium with which to document world events and raise public awareness. And they succeeded – the way MAGNUM photographers have recorded the background to the news has proved vital to the public’s perception of events. From the start, the agency was distinguished by its complete independence: the choice and length of reportage, editing control and intellectual property rights were all kept in the agency’s own hands, guaranteeing photographers the status of auteurs. Attracted by the energy and artistic ethics of its founders, other photographers soon began to join the new agency, eventually making it one of the most original and prestigious creative co-operatives in the world.