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Georgia's history is polarized. It has been written, rewritten, and analyzed. But the Native American memory is still trying to be heard. Because Native American's consider themselves independent nations, they rarely vote. And in part because of this lack of representation, reservations often remain the poorest regions of America. Larry followed the Trail of Tears in northern Georgia, where part of the deadly 19th century campaign took place. He met with elders and recorded their stories, bringing them into today's political and social discourse.

"In 1830, US President Andrew Jackson signed the "Indian Removal Act" making it illegal for a Native America's, including those of mixed blood, to live east of the Mississippi River. Between 1830 and 1850, approximately 60,000 members of the five civilized Tribes were forced to surrender their land and travel to a harsh and unknown region known as “Indian Country” (present day Oklahoma). Trails extended for 5043 miles from North Carolina through Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Illinois, Arkansas and Missouri, ending in Oklahoma. Between 1938 and 1939, 16,000 Cherokee moved on the Cherokee Trail along with some slaves and Creek Indians on horseback, wagon, and on foot. Approximately 4000 of them perished due to hunger, exposure and disease.” - Larry Towell

Larry Towell has been documenting the indigenous peoples of North America since 2012. He continued his documentation in October 2024 in Georgia, one of the current swing states and a battleground for democracy in the 2024 election.

This story is part of States of Our Union, a series presented in collaboration between The Nation, Magnum Photos, and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Native American Memory in Georgia...

Since the 1980s, Springfield, Ohio, has experienced economic decline and demographic changes, marked by the closure of major factories and the loss of industrial jobs. Once a thriving manufacturing hub, the city now faces high unemployment and growing poverty. The population has dropped from over 80,000 to 50,000 people, 20,000 of whom are Haitian.

In Haiti, gangs have ravaged the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas, killing, raping, and kidnapping thousands, leaving hundreds of thousands without homes and unemployed, deepening poverty throughout the country. Haitians began arriving in Springfield around 2018, drawn to the city by job opportunities and affordable housing. This has exacerbated local tensions, particularly after Donald Trump and J.D. Vance spread rumors about their cultural practices, further fueling distrust and weakening Springfield’s social cohesion.

Jerome Sessini photographed the Haitian community early October 2024. This story is part of States of Our Union, a series presented in collaboration between The Nation, Magnum Photos, and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Haitian Community in Springfield...

Magnum America is not a comprehensive photographic history of the United States, but rather draws on stories from the Magnum Archives to ask: What is ‘America’?

Arranged into decade-by-decade chapters spanning from the 1940s to the present day – complete with timelines, story-led individual portfolios and collective portfolios – Magnum America places ordinary and extraordinary people and events side by side, offering a moving interpretation of the nation’s past and present, whilst calling into question its future.

This expansive publication features over 600 illustrations from photographers including Bruce Davidson, Wayne Miller, Eve Arnold, Martin Parr, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Bieke Depoorter, Paul Fusco, Susan Meiselas, Sabiha Çimen and Leonard Freed. Edited by Magnum photographer Peter van Agtmael and Professor Laura Wexler, who also contributes an introductory essay, Magnum America is complemented by a computational analysis and data visualization by Lauren Tilton and Taylor Arnold that works to unpack the myth and mystery of the United States of America.

Breathtaking in scope and abundant with the photographic riches and intelligent, insightful authorship for which Magnum’s photographers are renowned, Magnum America is a vital contribution to the documentation of contemporary American history and a landmark photobook.

Magnum America
The United States
Published by Thames & Hudson
Edited by Laura Wexler and Peter van Agtmael
With an introductory essay by Laura Wexler
With a computational analysis and data visualization by Lauren Tilton and Taylor Arnold

Magnum America: The United States...

The city of Detroit is the most populous in the U.S. swing state of Michigan, with a predominantly African American population. The region as a whole boasts a rich ethnic diversity, particularly in communities such as Hamtramck, which has become the only Muslim majority city in the United States. Formerly a largely Polish neighborhood, Hamtramck has become a diverse community with residents from Yemen, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Palestine, among other countries.

Magnum photographer Alex Webb photographed Detroit in the summertime, from downtown to its surrounding small cities. The various festivities taking place during these days—which includes July 4th, Independence Day—reflect the ethnic diversity of the region. These range from an African-American blues gathering to a suburban white July 4th parade, a Halal Ribfest, and Mexican-style wrestling (Lucha Libre) at a taco festival in one of the inner-city suburbs.

Detroit's Vibrant Diversity

December 8, 2024 will mark the reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Patrick Zachmann was one of the first on the scene to document the fire in 2019 that shockingly devastated the historic building.

Zachmann has had privileged access to the construction site from the outset, enabling a unique documentation of this momentous undertaking from start to finish.
We take a look back at the key moments of the building work, as well as the craftsmen and tradesmen who made the restoration of this iconic building possible.

Reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral...

Since the escalation of violence in the Middle East, protests, boycotts, vigils and various demonstrations have taken place around the world, with debates undoubtedly highlighting the polarization of our society, but also reflecting a similarity of beliefs between different communities and cultures.

Early on, some governments planned to ban the protests, such as in France, where Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin asked prefects to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations in October 2023. In the UK, British ministers considered banning the protests as part of a plan to tackle political violence, calling for a "zero-tolerance approach" to groups using disruptive tactics, according to The Guardian. Despite this uncertain climate, the marches have continued for more than a year.

In the city of London, home to one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the world, where ⅓ of the population is foreign, people of all religions, cultures and countries have come together to support the people of Gaza. Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Using her large format camera, Olivia Arthur takes portraits of a number of Londoners taking part in the protest. She asks them about their views, and why it's an important time to take to the streets and make their voices heard.

Rabbi Beck: “We live here in Stamford Hill, thousands of Jewish families among thousands of Muslims. There are synagogues and mosques side by side.’

Malik- ‘You can condemn Israel and still love Jewish people. We’re just getting the message out there because in the beginning, mainstream outlets were saying things like, These are hate marches, and there’s not a single bit of hate being chanted.’ ‘I feel that as an English citizen I have a duty to go and express how I feel to my government, my MP.’

Pro-Palestinian activists in London...

Four Magnum photographers have teamed up with two reporters from the Swiss newspaper Le Temps to document key issues in the United States ahead of November's presidential elections.

Working alongside Simon Petite and Léo Tichelli, photographers Eli Reed, Larry Towell, Cristina de Middel and Peter van Agtmael will explore issues such as the economy, democracy, abortion, foreign policy and immigration in several key states. The collaboration will also explore images from the Magnum archive in special publications in October and November.

For the third report in the series, Cristina de Middel traveled to Florida with journalist Simon Petite in September 2024 to document the ongoing challenges and local perceptions of abortion in the state, where as of May 2024, women who are more than six weeks pregnant are no longer legally allowed to have an abortion. In the state, a coalition of pro-choice activists have nonetheless collected enough signatures to restore the right to abortion up to 24 weeks by referendum. Amendment 4, or the Florida Right to Abortion initiative, will now be on the ballot on November 5 during the presidential election.

Cristina de Middel visited Woman's World Medical Center in Fort Piece, the last abortion center in this part of the United States, where confrontations between pro-life and pro-choice groups are routine. She documented the tactics of pro-abortion activists who set up a fake clinic in front of the real one to mislead women seeking abortions. De Middel also met with a priest and pro-Trump immigrants.

Abortion in Florida

"What is it like to grow up in Palestine? How can you live amid violence, fear and oppression? What does the future look like when the past has been violently stripped of possibility? (...)"

With the people of Jenin and Nablus, Palestinian-Dutch photographer Sakir Khader explores the complex ways resistance counters occupation, and thrives in devotion to land and to life. Early encounters with repression, trauma and hardship necessitate resilience. Here, commitment to the land is found equally in the unshakable determination of fighters and the beekeeper’s dedication to his craft. It is the capacity to interweave childhood, family, mourning, play, and loss with an unyielding spirit of defiance, even when born into displacement.

"Khader bears witness to those who give up everything to sustain decades of resistance and those who persist, with remarkable tenacity, in building lives despite isolation from the freedom of their own lands." (Extract from curator Mohamed Somji's text)

"The West Bank has been on edge for the entirety of 2023. Danger lurks at every corner, and death has become an everyday reality. Before the cameras arrived, I captured what the world either couldn't see or simply refused to acknowledge. It was a suffocating journey toward inevitable collapse—a vicious cycle of violence that has gripped the people for longer than they can remember, with almost no way out. Every story starts with a nearly unbearable innocence and, without exception, ends either in injury, deep mourning, or, for an ever-growing number, carried on the shoulders of friends—silent, reverent—on their way to their final resting place." - Sakir Khader

"I have no more earth to lose"

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Hassan Nasrallah had led Hezbollah for the past thirty years, transforming the Lebanese militant group into one of the most formidable paramilitary forces in the Middle East.

On Saturday, September 28, Hezbollah announced that he was killed in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed six apartment buildings in Beirut the day before.

Magnum photographers have documented Nasrallah's presence and influence in the region for decades, from his early years in power to his assassination.

Hassan Nasrallah: 1960-2024

THE BORDER WAR—Larry Towell

"According to US Arizona Border Patrol, illegal crossings from Mexico into the US have dropped dramatically since President Joe Biden’s June 4, 2024 executive order barring migrants who enter illegally from claiming asylum. He has expanded wall construction and closed gaps making crossings more difficult. The Arizona border constitutes one of the most isolated and dangerous of the border’s nine geographic sectors. The Tuscon segment is a 262 mile stretch of steel/cement, electronic surveillance cameras and linear ground detection systems. Of the 200 tunnels that go beneath the wall nationwide, half are in the Nogales region of Arizona.

Migrants from China, Mexico, India, Central America and the countries of Africa flee gang violence, war, persecution, economic collapse and global warming. Drug cartels who charge exorbitant fees to assist in their transport through a chain of human smugglers, have divided up the frontier claiming stretches won by violent border wars. Migrants often suffer extortion, rape, and being abandoned in the desert while US presidential candidates from both parties cater to a public sentiment for “stronger security” fueled by the right-wing rhetoric of “being over run”.

According to Migration Data Portal, the border between Mexico and the United States is the second deadliest land crossing in the world. Once in the US, migrants are also subject to the intimidation of militia groups who “tour” the region to terrorize asylum seekers and intimidate Samaritans who assist them with food, water and shelter.

Larry Towell spent a week accompanying the Tuscon Samaritans and US Border Patrol. He was denied access to the local paramilitary group “Tuscon Border Recon” who poison water supplies and steal food left by Samaritans. Their spokesperson, Tim Foley of Arivaca, Arizona, believes humanitarian groups should be fined. Other far-right vigilante organizations that patrol the border include: Q-Anon, The Minutemen, and Proud Boys among others."

The Border War (USA)

In 2023, Paolo Pellegrin visited the Norwegian town of Kirkenes, one of the most strategically sensitive regions on earth. Bordering Russia and Finland, the small fishing town just 200 meters away from the Kola Peninsula, has been treated by Russia as a nuclear laboratory, testing intelligence operations there before replicating them across Europe. These test trials of "hybrid warfare" are Russia's attempts to subdue the enemy without fighting, pushing the limits of what they can get away with, to sabotage and to instill fear.

An attack on one NATO member is an attack on all, yet each incident is below the threshold that would require a military response, or trigger Article 5. Every European country that borders Russia is preparing for a wider war in the event of a Russian victory in Ukraine. Sweden cast aside 200 years of neutrality and non-alignment to join NATO, and Finland 70 years.

On assignment for The New Yorker, Pellegrin observed the small corner of the Norwegian arctic as it stands at the threshold of uncertainty, geographically isolated from the rest of Norway and the West.

Security on the Norwegian-Russian...

Azerbaijan will host COP-29 from November 11 to 22, 2024. But the small oil state is suffering greatly from the causes and effects of climate change, and faces significant trade-offs.

On assignment for the NYT, Nanna Heitmann documented the small country in July 2024. Together with journalist Max Bearak, she reported from remote mountain villages, an offshore oil platform and the capital, Baku.

"As alarm over global warming soars amid record-breaking heat and increasingly erratic weather, Azerbaijan has barely begun the process of replacing oil and gas. It has argued, as many less developed nations have, that rich nations must cough up billions of dollars to help them transition their economies, given that the world’s wealthier countries are responsible, in historical terms, for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions," wrote Max Bearak for the NYT.

Azerbaijan's Climate Change Dilemmas...

After the 2023 Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, followed by Israeli retaliation in the Gaza Strip, the conflict quickly spread to the Lebanese border with Hezbollah.

On behalf of The Washington Post, Myriam Boulous traveled with journalist Kareem Fahim for a day on September 10, 2024 to document the Spanish contingent of UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, near the Blue Line.

"UNIFIL provides humanitarian aid, including to civilians under imminent threat of violence. At least twice during the current conflict, Albar said, civilians sheltered in UNIFIL facilities in the Spanish contingent's area," Kareem Fahim wrote for the Washington Post.

UNIFIL in South Lebanon

The military clashes between Israel and various Lebanon-based militant groups trace back to Israel's founding in 1948, after which Lebanon and its neighbors declared war. Following the PLO's establishment in Lebanon in 1968, Israel invaded twice—in 1978 (Operation Litani) and in 1982—occupying southern Lebanon. In response, Hezbollah was formed to resist the occupation.

Israel withdrew in 2000, but conflict reignited in a month-long war with Hezbollah in 2006, which left significant damage in Lebanon but strengthened Hezbollah's political position. Since then, border skirmishes have continued, escalating further since the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian war in October 2023.

Magnum photographers have documented this enduring conflict for decades.

Israel & Lebanon from the Archives...

On September 10th, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump faced off in the first and possibly only debate before the upcoming 2024 U.S. election. Cristina De Middel photographed Kamala Harris supporters at a debate watch party in Florida, as more than 67 million viewers tuned in worldwide.

2024 Presidential Debate Watch...

Moises Saman traveled to Sudan for The New York Times and documented the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement’s stronghold in the Nuba Mountains. The country has been embroiled in a civil war for over a year, driven by ethnic, religious, and resource conflicts, resulting in as many as 150,000 deaths and the displacement of 11 million civilians according to the NYT. The S.P.L.M., with its secular vision, encourages residents to identify as “Nuba” rather than by religion.

Despite efforts by the group and foreign NGOs to provide education and healthcare, the threat of famine remains.

Sudan: The War the World Forgot...

On Saturday, October 7th, Israel was taken by surprise in an unexpected and severe cross-border assault by Hamas from Gaza, resulting in the initial deaths of 900 people. The BBC reported that included in this number were 260 individuals attending a music festival. With many still missing or abducted by Hamas in Israel, families are left desperately seeking information as the conflict unfolds.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared war on Hamas, vowing to use “enormous force” by launching strikes in Gaza and imposing a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip, freezing the flow of essential supplies. According to the BBC, as of October 9th approximately 690 people in Gaza had lost their lives and more than 120,000 had been displaced from their homes.

The result of this has triggered the latest outbreak of fighting in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, drawing in outside powers and echoing across the broader Arab region.

Israel and Palestine from the Archives...

Ukrainian President Vicktor Yanukovych’s cabinet abandoned an agreement on closer trade ties in the EU, favoring closer cooperation with Russia. What began as small protests escalated to the Revolution of Dignity, also known as the Maidan Revolution, a violent protest with at least 88 deaths. Following the Euromaidan protests and removal of Yanukovych, partnered with pro-Russia unrest in Ukraine, Russian annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.

Demonstrations in the Donbas area of Ukraine escalated into a war between the Ukrainian Government and Russian-backed separatist forces. Russian military vehicles crossed the border in several locations of Donetsk Oblast, which is believed to be responsible for the defeat of Ukrainian forces in early September of 2014. In November, Ukrainian military reported intensive movement of Russian combat troops into separatist-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine.

In October 2021, Russia reignited concerns of a potential invasion after moving troops and military equipment to the shared border with Ukraine. The buildup continued until Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February, 2022.

Russo-Ukrainian Conflict

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