Magnum Photos Home

[Title]

[CarrouselCaption]

[CarrouselAlbumLinkLabel]

Legendary photographer and long-time Magnum member Elliott Erwitt has passed away at the age of 95.

Elliott Erwitt was born Elio Romano Ervitz to Russian-Jewish parents in Paris in 1928. He spent his childhood in Milan, and emigrated to the US in 1939 when fascism drove his family out of Italy. Erwitt was living with his father in Los Angeles when he began to take portraits of local people to make money. Working in a commercial darkroom, the teenage photographer spent time printing images of actors before further experimentations with photography at Los Angeles City College. In 1948, Erwitt moved to New York, the city that would go on to provide material for the work of much of his career, and where his life and family would be centered. After a time working as a janitor, he took up film classes at the New School for Social Research.

Erwitt traveled to France and Italy in 1949 with the Rolleiflex camera that he favored during those years. In 1951, he was drafted for military service and undertook various photographic duties while serving in a unit of the Army Signal Corps in Germany and France.

While in New York, Erwitt met Edward Steichen, Robert Capa and Roy Stryker, the former head of the Farm Security Administration. Stryker had contributed to the careers of Walker Evans, Ben Shahn, Dorothea Lange, Marion Post Wolcott, Gordon Parks and more. He initially hired Erwitt for a job in New Jersey, for the Standard Oil Company, where Stryker was compiling a photographic library. Following this, Stryker commissioned Erwitt to undertake a project documenting the city of Pittsburgh in 1950, a series that Erwitt published as a book in 2017.

In 1953, Erwitt joined Magnum Photos and worked as a freelance photographer for Collier’s, Look, LIFE, Holiday and other luminaries in that golden period for illustrated magazines. Throughout his life, he worked as a commercial photographer and journalist. Famous figures he photographed included Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Jack Kerouac, John F Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy. In 1959, he was present to capture the moment of tension between Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon during the diplomatic visit that went on to be known as the Kitchen Debate. In 1964 Erwitt visited Cuba and made portraits of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.

It was Erwitt’s firm belief that photography should speak to the senses and emotions rather than intellect. “When the photograph happens, it comes easily, as a gift that should not be questioned or analyzed,” he said. Erwitt preferred not to intellectualize his profession, often stating simply that photography allowed him to pursue his interests while making a living.

Erwitt employed dedication in seeking out the most absurd and the charming moments of life. Much like his photographs, his views on his practice were often instantly memorable, usually taking the form of pithy, epigrammatic sayings. The director of the documentary Elliott Erwitt: Silence Sounds Good, Adriana Lopez Sanfeliu, spoke about the difficulties there were in showing Erwitt’s more private side, saying of the filming process that it’s “hard to portray someone as big as him.”

Dogs were fruitful source of insight into humanity for Erwitt. He expressed his sympathy for the creatures, which formed the subject of four of his books: “…they’re always on call. Their owners want instant affection every day, any time of day. A dog can never say that he has other things to do. He can never have a headache, like a wife.”

Much of Erwitt’s photography concerned love and romantic partnerships. A couple shown in a side-mirror of a car is one of Erwitt’s most beloved shots, while another pair of subjects, Robert and Mary Frank, shown dancing in a kitchen, has made an image that has resonated with many viewers throughout the ages. Erwitt’s turn of the lens to his own personal life, in an image of his wife and young child, have touched many in the times since its initial exhibition in the 1955 humanist exhibtion, Family of Man. Erwitt’s curious, sometimes voyeuristic eye was employed to some of its best effects in museums: images from MoMA to the Louvre to Madrid’s Reina Sofia formed his book Museum Watching.

In the late 1960s, Erwitt served as Magnum’s president for three years. He then turned to film: in the 1970s, he produced several notable documentaries and in the 1980s eighteen comedy films for HBO. Always stridently against artistic pretensions in photography, Erwitt was known for his benevolent irony and his dedication to portraying human emotions.

In 1988, Erwitt took the time to look back over his 40-year career and classify his entire archive. This allowed him in the following two decades to publish a vast number of publications around his work, including retrospectives such as Personal Exposures (1988), Snaps (2001), and Elliott Erwitt’s XXL Special Edition in 2012. He also published a number of photobooks focusing on recurring themes in his œuvre, such as On the Beach (1991), To the Dogs (1992) and Dog Dogs (1998), Museum Watching (1999), and Kids (2012), as well as a look at some of the cities that he held dear: Elliott Erwitt’s New York (2008), Rome (2009), and Paris (2010).

In 2002, Erwitt was awarded the Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Medal, and In 2011, the photographer became the honoree of the International Center of Photography’s Lifetime Achievement Award, referred to as “an eyewitness to history and a dreamer with a camera.”

Today, a major retrospective of Erwitt’s work is currently on view at La Sucrière in Lyon. The exhibition runs until March 17, 2024.

Elliott Erwitt: 1928-2023

On Wednesday, November 29th, Henry Kissinger, widely regarded as the most influential and polarizing US Secretary of State in the post-World War II era, passed away at the age of 100.

Known for his pragmatic approach to diplomacy, Kissinger left an enduring mark on modern U.S. foreign policy, navigating both admiration and criticism for the ethical dimensions of his decisions. He played a pivotal role in the normalization of relations with China, negotiations to end the Vietnam War, and was a key architect of the détente policy with the Soviet Union. Advising four U.S. Presidents, he served as the National Security Advisor to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from 1969 to 1975, and subsequently held the position of Secretary of State until 1977.

Kissinger's legacy in present-day relations with China, Russia, and the Middle East marks him as a complex and powerful, yet ambivalent, figure in American history.

Henry Kissinger: 1923-2023

"The expression of a spell. Since his first trip to Morocco in 1972, Harry Gruyaert has returned again and again, in search of the initial shock he felt: a splendid harmony between shapes, colours, the everyday gestures of people and nature. From the High Atlas to the desert, from the countryside to Marrakech, Fez, Essaouira or Erfoud, Gruyaert's images are imaginary theatres in which he expresses the spell that this country has exerted on him for over 50 years. But his photographs are also paradoxically very physical. "Making a photograph means both seeking contact and refusing it, being the most there and the least there at the same time. In the field, it's a real 'battle' with reality, a kind of trance to record an image or perhaps miss the whole thing. It's in this struggle that I find myself at my best.
Morocco is the expression of this particular tension, halfway between exaltation and rapture. " - Publisher presentation

Publisher : Textuel
November 2023
French
ISBN : 978-2-84597-976-5
29 x 23,5
Hardcover
208 pages

Morocco. 2023.

In the tropical region of Los Yungas, Bolivia, resides an African monarch surrounded by coca plantations—Julio Pinedo. He traces his lineage back to Uchicho, the Kikongo tribe's king who, as a slave, arrived from Congo in 1820. Despite never aspiring to be the king of Afro-Bolivians, the demands of his community compel him to confront the contemporary challenges faced by minorities in Bolivia, a nation where African heritage has struggled to persist for decades. A new era is dawning for Afro-Bolivians, symbolized by his heir, Prince Rolando Julio Pinedo Larrea, who is poised to assume the responsibility and bridge both his community and family to their illustrious past.

The Royal Pinedos

In September of 2013, Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall was the scene of a terrorist attack by the Islamist group al-Shabaab, which left 67 people dead. Political leaders were then urged to implement a security system.

Since then, a contract has been signed between the Chinese company Huawei and Safaricom, Kenya's main telecommunications operator. The aim is to install cameras on Nairobi's main roads, and send the data to the national police headquarters. The city is now home to nearly 2,000 cameras.

However, these surveillance cameras are not solving the city's crime problem: since 2023, a report by Magnum's partners at the Edgelands Institute, an organization that studies the digitization of urban security, has shown that criminal activity has only increased in Nairobi over the last ten years. Video surveillance also poses an ethical problem, as the country lacks sufficient data protection laws to prevent the misuse of data circulating via surveillance systems.

Nairobi's vast network of CCTV cameras has raised concerns about the privacy of Kenyans.

Nairobi: Africa's First City Under...

From November 8 to 10, 2023, an international conference organized by French President Emmanuelle Macron called "One Planet" will take place in Paris. This meeting aims to disseminate information pertaining to melting polar ice from the scientific community and offer suggestions for improving polar and glacial protection.

The Polar Melt

Guy Le Querrec

Last month Hamas launched an unexpected assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing over a thousand civilians and capturing hostages.

In response, Israel has declared a state of war and emergency in the region, launching a counteroffensive involving intense airstrikes on Gaza, and most recently, a ground invasion. Calls for an immediate ceasefire have resounded globally, as the death toll in Gaza has surged beyond 10,000 according to BBC reports.

Magnum Photographers are on the ground providing visual updates from the region.

War in Focus: Visual Updates from...

"A searing, diaristic portrayal of a city and society in revolution by Magnum nominee Myriam Boulos
In her debut monograph, Myriam Boulos casts an unflinching eye on the revolution that began in Lebanon in 2019 with protests against government corruption and austerity—culminating with the aftermath of the devastating Beirut port explosion of August 2020. She portrays her friends and family with startling energy and intimacy, in states of pleasure and protest. Boulos renders the body in public space as a powerful motif, both visceral and vulnerable in the face of state neglect and violence. Of her approach to photography, Boulos states: “It’s more of a need than a choice. I obsess about things and I don’t know how to deal with these obsessions in any other way but photography.” Featuring a contextual essay by noted writer Mona Eltahawy, What’s Ours showcases Boulos’s strident and urgent vision."
Publisher presentation

Aperture
Text by Mona Eltahawy and Myriam Boulos. Designed by Maya Moumne.
Hardback
Number of pages: 192
Number of images: 150
Publication date: 2023-11-14
Measurements: 7.1 x 8.6 inches
ISBN: 9781597115605

What’s Ours

On September 11, 2023, torrential rains caused critical flooding in the towns of Shahhat, Al-Bayda, and Marj. In Derna, the collapse of two dams caused floodwater to tear through the city of 100,000 people, washing away buildings, cars, and residents, leaving the town in a state of devastation.

Moises Saman documented the scenes after the storm, as well as the rescue crews and support teams in the devastating aftermath, and the homelessness crisis that hit the population as tens of thousands were displaced.

Aftermath of Libya's Floods

On October 15th 2023, Poland's opposition parties won the majority of votes in the Parliament, leaving the conservative and populist Law and Justice Party (PiS) without enough seats to continue an absolute governing of the country. Following an eight year rule of PiS, the election results signal the potential end of a hard-right government that has adversely affected Poland’s democracy, asserted control of the state media, and dismantled the judicial system while undermining LGBTQ+ and women's rights. The three opposition parties are now in a strong position to create a coalition government, having won a record-turn out (74.4%) since the end of communism.

Poland's Parliamentary Elections...

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...

The Yom Kippur War was fought 50 years ago. On October 6th, 1973 an Arab coalition launched a surprise attack on Israel with the goal of retaking territory seized by the latter during 1967's Six Day War. The fighting was over in less than three weeks with Israel claiming victory.

50 Years Since the Yom Kippur War...

On September 28th, the government of Nagorno-Karabakh announced its dissolution, marking the formal end of over three decades of self-rule. This decision comes a week after Azerbaijan seized control of the mountainous region through a rapid "military operation".

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict stands as the longest-running armed struggle in post-Soviet Eurasia. Situated in the South Caucasus region, between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh has been trapped in a violent tug of war for over 30 years. The roots of the conflict can be traced back to Joseph Stalin's actions in the 1920s when, under Soviet control, he originally placed Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan's borders. However, given that the enclaves population was 90% ethnically Armenian and housed numerous ancient Armenian sites from as early as the 4th-5th centuries, he designated it as an autonomous region.

As the Soviet Union's dissolution became inevitable, tensions escalated between Armenia and Azerbaijan, both vying for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO). In 1988, the NKAO's national assembly voted to dissolve its autonomous status and join Armenia, sparking a full-scale war that persisted until Armenia's victory in 1994. This conflict resulted in millions of people from both countries being displaced and thousands losing their lives. The ceasefire reached in 1994 remained fragile, and in 2016, a conflict known as "The 4-Day War" claimed hundreds of more lives. A Russian-brokered ceasefire was signed, but the commitments on paper proved short-lived.

In 2020 the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War began. While Vladimir Putin pledged Russian peacekeepers to the region, the overshadowing presence of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict diverted international attention and dominated Western media, granting Azerbaijan an upper hand in the conflict. After further violence, displacement of families, and the seizure of Armenian territories by Azerbaijan, another ceasefire was signed. The aftermath of this led to protests in Yerevan against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and celebrations of victory in Azerbaijan's capital Baku.

With another ceasefire broken, border conflicts persisted from 2021 onwards as Azerbaijani soldiers repeatedly encroached upon sovereign Armenian territory. In 2022, Azerbaijan initiated an illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the only route connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. This blockade further compounded the deepening humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh by obstructing the transport of essential aid, food, and oil. In August of 2023, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed alarm over the closure corridor, which had remained blocked for 9 months.

Amid the isolation of Nagorno-Karabakh from the rest of the world, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive on September 19th, 2023. The following day, the leader of the Republic of Artsakh (NK), Samvel Shahramanyan, declared the surrender of all armed forces, the dissolution of institutions, and the intended dissolution of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh by January 1st, 2024.

With grave concerns of ethnic cleansing, Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh fled as the corridor reopened in September, hastily packing what belongings they could carry and resorting to burning what they could not. Left in the wake of this exodus are centuries of ancient heritage, with many Armenians haunted by the prospect of their culture being erased, especially given Turkey's ongoing support for Azerbaijan, the same nation responsible for the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Many are concerned that the land seizures will not end here and are anxious about the overall sovereignty of the state of Armenia.

Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Over...

"Over 70,000 Karabakh Armenians have already fled their homes for the Armenian heartland after Azerbaijan's authoritarian President Aliyev launched a “military operation" in Nagorno-Karabakh. Perhaps a few more days and Nagorno-Karabakh will be emptied of Armenians, who inhabited this land for over 2,000 years. Many Armenians we met fear the seize might not end with this but that the existence of Armenia as a sovereign state is under threat while the world watches silently." - Nanna Heitmann, via Instagram

On Thursday, September 28th, the government of Nagorno-Karabakh announced its dissolution, marking the formal end of over three decades of self-rule. This decision comes a week after Azerbaijan seized control of the mountainous region through a rapid "military operation".

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the longest-running armed struggle in post-Soviet Eurasia. Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited by 120,000 ethnic Armenians and more recently acknowledged as part of Azerbaijan's territory, has been trapped in a violent tug of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan for 35 years. The tensions stemming from the disintegration of the Soviet Union led to a full-scale war between the two countries, with both vying for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) and its transfer from Soviet Azerbaijan to Armenia’s borders in 1988.

From 1994 to 2016, Armenia remained in control of most of the enclave until the fragile match reignited in 2020, beginning the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. While Vladimir Putin pledged Russian peacekeepers to the region, the overshadowing presence of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict diverted international attention and dominated Western media, granting Azerbaijan an upper hand in terms of military power and the use of force.

In August of 2023, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed alarm over the closure of the Lachin Corridor, the sole route connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis by impeding aid transportation. Amid the isolation of Nagorno-Karabakh from the rest of the world, Azerbaijan violated the Russian-brokered ceasefire, launching a military offensive on September 19th, 2023. The following day, the leader of the Republic of Artsakh (NK), Samvel Shahramanyan, declared the surrender of all armed forces, the dissolution of institutions, and the intended dissolution of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh by January 1st.

Amidst fears of ethnic cleansing, Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh are fleeing towards sovereign Armenia, hastily gathering their possessions and resorting to burning what they cannot carry. Left in the wake of this exodus are centuries of ancient Armenian heritage, including historical sites dating back as far as the 4th and 5th centuries. Many Armenians are haunted by the prospect of their culture being erased, particularly in light of Turkey's continued support for Azerbaijan, the same nation responsible for the Armenian Genocide in 1915, in this unfolding humanitarian crisis.

Armenian Refugees Flee Nagorno-Karabakh...

Men Untitled by Carolyn Drake is a new series of photographs exploring her relationship to myths of masculinity in American culture. Following Knit Club (2012–2020), a subversive work about a community of women in rural Mississippi, Drake shifts her gaze in Men Untitled. In contrast to her previous work, her subjects are uprooted from their geographies. Erasing nearly all signs of place, Drake invites the viewer to look directly at the male bodies in front of her camera. The subjects in Men Untitled appear nude or half-dressed, frozen in awkward poses, torsos twisted and bent, backward-facing, wearing furniture, and even hung upside down. But they also appear to be at ease with—possibly even acting in collusion with—the artist. Still-lives punctuate the portraits: an anatomical model of male genitalia perches on a velvet chair, a charred board of nails stands erect, and a formidable snake wraps itself around an empty window frame. Playful on its surface, the work’s underlying levity is brought to the fore in Drake’s epilogue, which recounts a sequence of personal experiences that motivated the work. Carolyn Drake was awarded the 2021 HCB Award by the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson to produce this series of photographs. With a row of embossed white faces tipped on the cover, each book is signed by the artist. Epilogue in English and French.

TBW Books
Flexi soft cover with embossed tip-on
118 pages, 33 color / 23 duotone plates
9 x 11.75 inches

Men Untitled

At the end of July 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultranationalist and religiously conservative coalition adopted a new law that would ultimately weaken the power of the Supreme Court, leading to wide-spread demonstrations in the country, the largest of it’s history. These protests reflect a deeper split along secular and religious lines about what kind of country Israel should be, and consequently reawakens tensions in both class and ethnical origins as well.

On commission with New York Times, Moises Saman traveled to thirteen towns and cities across Israel to document the internal opposition that is seeping into the country's daily life as it attempts to remain as one in the face of unresolved conflicts.

Divided Israel's Judicial Crisis...

" Dislocations presents a contemporary update of Alex Webb’s long out-of-print 1998 book by the same name, which was first published by Harvard’s Film Study Center as an experiment in alternative book making. The book brought together pictures from the many disparate locations over Webb’s oeuvre, meditating on the act of photography as a form of dislocation in itself. Dislocations was instantly collectable and continues to be sought after today. Webb returned to the idea of dislocation during the pandemic, looking at images produced in the twenty years since the original publication—as well as looking back at that first edition. Dislocations expands a beloved limited edition with unpublished images that speak to today’s sense of displacement. As a series of pictures that would have been impossible to create in a world dominated by closed borders and disrupted travel, it continues to resonate as the world resets."

Aperture, 2023
Hardback
128 pages
2023
11.8 x 10.2 inches
ISBN: 9781597115445

Dislocations (2023)

Bruce Gilden first traveled to Haiti in 1984 for the famous Mardi Gras festivities. There he discovered an impoverished territory in the grip of numerous natural disasters but charged with a unique energy. True to form, Gilden immediately departed from the beaten track, choosing to roam the length and breadth of the island along serpentine paths that led him to meet people from the four corners of the island, and into situations that few would choose to encounter.
Gilden was to visit this country that he loves so much on 20 further occasions, tirelessly documenting the everyday lives of Haitians, their history and terrain. From vendors at the markets of major cities to its nightlife and funeral ceremonies, Gilden strives to take stock of Haitian culture and its rich visual diversity.
Images from the series were first published as a slim monograph by Dewi Lewis in 1996; the book won the European Publishers Award for Photography. Atelier EXB’s beautifully printed new volume greatly expands the series with previously unseen images comprising nearly half of the book.

Atelier EXB, 2023
Hardcover, 8.5 x 11.5 in. / 144 pgs / 75 bw.
ISBN 9782365113779

Haiti (2023)

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

Go to Login page