WeTransfer presents: With famous members like , Hen- ri Cartier-Bresson and Erwitt Elliott, Magnum is a unique kind of organisation. Its impact CONSTANTINE MANOS (BORN 1934) can be seen through the visuals its members “I’m sure Magnum has the greatest photo- put out over the years, shaping our views on graphic archive in the world. Not the biggest, the world along the way. But this impact also but the richest and the most interesting,” says becomes clear through the incredible stories Constantine Manos, who joined the agency shared by the photographers themselves. in 1964. At 83, Constantine is now one of the oldest Magnum members. The Magnum Manifesto includes photogra- phers from every generation of Magnum’s He was first introduced to photography when illustrious history. It’s divided into three sec- he was only 15 years old. He discovered his tions, each discussing a different era through school’s darkroom and started shooting for the eyes of Magnum’s members. We spoke the school’s newspaper. to three of those represented – Constantine is one of the oldest and most prestigious photography Manos, Richard Kalvar and Olivia Arthur. “1952 was an important year, because then I agencies in the world. This year marks its 70th anniversary, and to mark first read about this photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson,” Constantine says. this milestone, there is a new book and exhibition celebrating the images and the image-makers who have contributed to its success. Both Thames & Hudson’s book and the Magnum Manifesto show at the International Center of Photography in New York provide an insight into the way the agency and its photographers evolved over the past decades. words by Suzanne Tromp HERBERT LIST. EYES IN THE SKY. PARIS, FRANCE.

ROBERT CAPA. W. EUGENE SMITH. WERNER BISCHOF. FRENCH ELECTIONS, DR. CERIANI WITH LEE INTERNATIONAL PRESS VOTER LEAVES MARIE WHEATLY, A TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS COVERING CURTAINED VOTING AND A HALF YEAR OLD THE KOREAN WAR. BOOTHS. CHILD WHO NEEDED KAESONG, SOUTH . PARIS, FRANCE. EMERGENCY TREATMENT AFTER HAVING BEEN KICKED IN THE HEAD WeTransfer presents: Magnum Manifesto – 01/05 BY A HORSE. COLORADO, USA. ON THIS PAGE: CONSTANTINE MANOS. DAUFUSKIE ISLAND. SOUTH CAROLINA, USA (1952).

“I read his philosophy and I saw some of his “I’d taken pictures before, but I didn’t know pictures in a magazine. He doesn’t allow crop- anything about good photography. Reading ping and I learned about his concept of the about Cartier-Bresson changed my life.” After this encounter Constantine did some decisive moment. I thought, wow, this is for smaller jobs for Magnum, but the project that me. This is what I want to do.” And so when Constantine was 18, he took got him invited to join the agency was his the Greyhound bus from Colombia to New Greek Portfolio. His parents, who had emigrat- Constantine got himself a Leica and some York to visit the Magnum office and show his ed from to the US, always referenced Ilford film (as used by his new hero Henri), pictures. a village they came from. So Constantine and set out for an island off the coast of South decided to visit their home country and shoot Carolina, called Daufuskie. It had been a plan- “I met Cornell Capa there, and Cornell said, daily life there. tation, and was still inhabited by descendants ‘Come let’s have a drink.’ I had never been of slaves. in a bar before in my life, I had never had “I realised the best villages were the ones a drink. So I said, ‘I’ll have whatever you’re that had no electricity. They were very prim- “I did a little essay about a ten-year-old boy, having,’ and he was having scotch. So that was itive and beautiful and simple. It was the old who lived with an old couple – he was an my first drink, and I’ve been drinking scotch Greece. It was like nothing had changed in orphan.” This would turn into Constantine’s ever since.” 200 years,” Constantine says. first series of pictures, now showcased in the Magnum Manifesto. He left a box of prints with the Magnum when traveling through Paris. Back in Athens, he was pleasantly surprised by a letter from the

DENNIS STOCK. ON THE SET OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. CALIFORNIA, USA. “I’d taken pictures before, but I didn’t know anything about good RENE BURRI. LEONARD FREED. photography. Reading about MARC RIBOUD. ERNESTO GUEVARE MARTIN LUTHER KING. PHOTOGRAPHER’S RALLY. (CHE), ARGENTINIAN BALTIMORE, Cartier-Bresson changed my life.” KARUIZAWA, JAPAN. POLITICIAN, MINISTER MARYLAND, USA OF INDUSTRY (1961-1965) DURING AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW IN HIS OFFICE. WeTransfer presents: Magnum Manifesto – 02/05 HAVANA, CUBA. ON THIS PAGE: RICHARD KALVAR. OKLAHOMA SENATOR FRED HARRIS CAMPAIGNING FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION, SHAKING HANDS WITH PEOPLE ENTERING THE SUBWAY. BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, USA (1976).

famous agency. “It said, ‘Dear Constantine, He became a Magnum member in 1977, after a we have just had our annual meeting and you slight misunderstanding in which he thought are invited to become an associate member.’ “I think the best pictures are like poems, he was in, only to find there was a final hurdle Of course I was thrilled to death.” they’re things in your head, in your memory to clear. No matter, he was approved and even bank, in your brain. went on to serve as the agency’s president for Constantine is a traditional photographer in a time. the sense that he truly believes in the voice of “I think the decisive moment is very important the person taking the picture. He says though, in a picture; a successful photograph is a His work in the Magnum Manifesto is a series with the overabundance of cameras nowa- surprise. They should exist for their own sake. of pictures taken in a Boston subway station days, everyone thinks they are a photographer. They should be something that give people during Fred Harris’ unsuccessful 1976 elec- pleasure and enriches their lives.” toral campaign. “People would come by and “They are photographers, of course, but it is shake his hand, and then another person very difficult to be an exceptional one. There RICHARD KALVAR (BORN 1944) and another person. There was a certain are a lot of people looking for a gimmick, Richard Kalvar can be best described as a ridiculousness to the situation which making a picture different for its own sake.” street photographer. Whether he’s shooting became interesting.” He finds this problematic because, “you’re in Rome, Paris or New York, his photos show tampering with the truth. And you’re tamper- a mix of ordinary life and ambiguous story- ing with believability, which is one of the great telling – at first glance they seem to depict a qualities of photography. normal scene, but at closer inspection there’s an extra layer hidden in the pictures.

“I think the decisive moment is very important in a picture; a successful MARC RIBOUD. PAUL FUSCO. MARILYN SILVERSTONE. LEONARD FREED A YOUNG AMERICAN GIRL, JAN ROSE ROBERT KENNEDY VILLAGERS LOOKING AT SLIDES A MAN TAKEN INTO photograph is a surprise. They should KASMIR, CONFRONTS THE AMERICAN FUNERAL TRAIN. OF THEMSELVES. CUSTODY IN A POLICE NATIONAL GUARD OUTSIDE THE PHILADELPHIA, USA. YUMTHANG, NORTH SIKKIM, CAR. exist for their own sake.” PENTAGON DURING THE 1967 ANTI- NEW YORK CITY, USA. MARCH. WASHINGTON DC, USA.

WeTransfer presents: Magnum Manifesto – 03/05 OLIVIA ARTHUR. THE REMNANTS OF THE MV DARA WRECK WHICH LIES IN 20M OF WATER OFF THE COAST OF DUBAI, AND HAS BECOME COVERED IN FISHING NETS. DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (2013). The result is a series of repetitive photos of OLIVIA ARTHUR (BORN 1980) the candidate in the same position, shaking Olivia Arthur is one of the younger genera- people’s hands. “Each photograph in itself is That’s why street photography appeals to him. tion photographers who’s represented in the not great, but when you put them in sequence On the streets an encounter with someone is Magnum Manifesto. She was first introduced it creates this absurdist vibe,” Richard ex- short, so you don’t have the time to grasp who to the agency in 2002 when she won the Inge plains. a person exactly is and what they do. “I can Morath Award, established as a tribute to the let myself go a little bit, because I'm not say- pioneering female photographer. Yet, Richard is actually drawn to try and con- ing what these people are like,” Richard says. vey a story within a single image. “In general “I’m showing my first impression, so I don't “It’s quite famously a very male agency,” says I don't tell stories with a series of pictures, really feel a big responsibility.” Olivia. “There’s definitely an awareness about where each picture tells a different aspect,” he this within the whole community of Magnum. says. This means he doesn’t shy away from adding There are a lot of young female photogra- multiple interpretations to events through phers out there, and there’s no reason why we “What interests me is when each picture tells his imagery. “I like to be very ambiguous so shouldn’t be taking them on.” a story; you can take it out of its context and you don't know what's going on. It looks like it has a life of its own that goes beyond the something is happening and it's not necessari- Olivia had just started her career when she obvious descriptive type of photography.” ly happening,” he says. became a member in 2008. “Some people

OLIVIA ARTHUR. come to the agency when they’re more estab- “It's kind of playing with this idea of what WORKERS TAKE A BREAK lished but a lot of people join when they are reality is. I'm working on the edge of reality.” FROM A CONSTRUCTION SITE quite young and that’s encouraged,” she says. IN DUBAI BUSINESS BAY. OLIVIA ARTHUR. DUBAI, UNITED ARAB STEPS INTO THE WATER “You grow with the agency. It’s the idea of the EMIRATES (2014). ON THE DUBAI CREEK. big family.” DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (2013).

BRUNO BARBEY GULF WAR. BURGAN OIL FIELDS. U.S. MARINES POSE FOR A PHOTO IN FRONT OF A BURNED VEHICLE CONTAINING A CHARRED CORPSE. “It's kind of playing with this idea KUWAIT . of what reality is. I'm working on STEVE MCCURRY. MARTIN PARR the edge of reality.” MAN IN WHEELCHAIR JURMALA. READS TO BOY. LATVIA. PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN.

WeTransfer presents: Magnum Manifesto – 04/05 Olivia says she became more confident Olivia acknowledges some of her peers might playing around with her photography after find her work experimental, but she feels the becoming part of the Magnum community. still alive. To this day they still search for him; core of her work is actually quite traditional. “I’m not at all afraid of mixing texts with pho- Stranger, her first series at the agency and they place ads every now and then to try and “It starts out with a concept – which is a tography. If they’re used in the right way, they the one included in the manifesto, pushes find him.” made up concept of a fictional character – but can enhance each other in a wonderful way,” the idea of the medium’s role from merely that’s just a vehicle. It’s essentially a docu- she says. documenting a moment, towards it becoming Struck by this tale, she came up with a fic- mentary project about Dubai.” more of a narrative art form. tional character of a young passenger who “Some people can bring a whole story in one survived the disaster. “This is when it became The photos are compiled in a book with image, but for me it is about these series of Stranger depicts the past and the present of conceptional: imagine if someone ended up transparent paper, allowing readers to see narratives. It’s about putting things together; Dubai. “People never speak about the history on an island somewhere in the Gulf, and they multiple images at once. Next to that she the ability to tell something more, to tell a of Dubai, they always talk about the future come to the city now – how would they see mixes old maps and text snippets from inter- story.” – what it will be. No one ever looked at how it?” views with locals in with her photos, cleverly this place became what it is.” combining the past with the present. 70 YEARS OF MAGNUM And so the project shows the city as if seen Across the work of Constantine, Richard and While researching Dubai’s history, she came through the eyes of this stranger, reflecting Olivia we see and hear different ideas about across a story about a shipwreck in 1961, off the feeling of alienation Olivia felt when first the role of both a photograph and a photogra- the city’s coast. “There’s this family who lost wandering the streets of Dubai. “Nobody feels pher. their son in the shipwreck but believed he was like they properly belong. There’s this feeling of isolation and chaos.” But whatever position the Magnum members take, there is it seems a common thread that unites them. “I think we all make work that looks at things going on in the world, whether they’re large events or tiny, micro, one-family one-person stories,” Olivia says.

Constantine agrees. “One of the greatest, most important subjects Magnum has cap- tured from the beginning is humanity. It is A. ABBAS. MARTIN PARR. OLIVIA ARTHUR. ALEX MAJOLI. people. Ordinary people.” FAMILIES SEARCHING FOR THEIR LOVED ST. PETER'S SQUARE. A COUPLE PHOTOGRAPH MASS GRAVES OF REBEL ONES, WHO HAVE DISAPPEARED DURING FROM TUTTA ROMA. THEMSELVES ON THEIR MOBILE SOLDIERS KILLED BY THE US BOMBING, EXHIBIT THEIR PHOTOS ROME, ITALY. PHONE IN FRONT OF THE QADDAFI. IT IS BELIEVED OVER MAKESHIFT GRAVES DUG IN THE CASPIAN SEA. BY HUMAN RIGHTS GARDEN OF A HOSPITAL. RAMSAR, IRAN. GROUPS THAT MANY MORE BAGHDAD, IRAQ. BODIES HAVE YET TO BE DISCOVERED. WeTransfer presents: Magnum Manifesto – 05/05 JANZOUR, LIBYA.