From today, iconic images shot by Magnum Photos agency photographers are part of a new week-long sale – the first of three in 2022 to mark the 75th anniversary year of the agency.
It includes work by legendary Magnum Photos’ photographers, including Eve Arnold, David Hurn, W Eugene Smith, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Capa, Dennis Stock, Paul Fusco, George Rodger and Philip Jones Griffiths.
The ‘Square Print Sale’ – titled Precedents – features over 70 classic Magnum images, printed on 6×6-inch archival paper.
It will be followed by two further sales in 2022 – June’s Magnum 75 sale and October’s Vital Signs sale.
‘The Tank Man’ stopping the column of T59 tanks. Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, 4 June 1989. © Stuart Franklin/Magnum Photos
Famous events in history
The sale sees images from famous events in history such as the photo of a defiant young protester at Tiananmen Square in 1989 shot by Stuart Franklin.
Other images include Peter Marlow’s image of seemingly carefree children eating ice cream while surrounding a soldier in Londonderry/Derry in 1979.
Elsewhere, there’s The Beatles captured by David Hurn as they dash along a train platform while filming A Hard Day’s Night.
There’s also Marlene Dietrich photographed mid-song by Eve Arnold at the Columbia Records studio in 1952.
Marlene Dietrich at the recording studios of Columbia Records, New York City, USA, 1952. © Eve Arnold/Magnum Photos
Triptych of images
The three Magnum Square Print Sales in 2022 will allow collectors to build a triptych of images, curated by photographers or estates, over the course of the year.
Each photographer and estate has curated their selection so that the images work alone, or in dialogue with each other.
The idea behind Precedents is participating photographers and estates have searched their personal archives in search of images that signal the start of something new. The beginning can be literal, an origin, or the moment that everything changed.
The photos on sale span six decades and, together, create a compelling survey of the agency, history and photojournalism.
Martin Luther King speaking to the crowds at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. Washington DC, USA, 17 May 1957. © Bob Henriques/Magnum Photos
The Precedents sale
Magnum Square Prints are printed on 6×6-inch (15.24×15.24cm) archival paper; image size is 5.5” (14cm) on the longest side. Images will not be cropped but will instead have white borders.
They are not editioned by quantity, but editioned by time, as these items will not be made available outside the sale window or in this format again.
During the sale over 70 archival-quality prints, signed by the photographers or estate-stamped by the estates, are available for £100 (+tax) each.
The Precedents sales runs till 06:59 GMT on Monday 21 March 2022.
You can purchase items from the Magnum Square Print Sale at the Magnum Photos Store.
The Beatles during filming of A Hard Day’s Night. The Beatles film was primarily shot on a moving train. The four Beatles running on train platform, London, England, 1964. © David Hurn/Magnum Photos
Red Cross donations
Magnum photographers will be donating 50% of their proceeds from the sale to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). These proceeds will help fund the ICRC’s humanitarian mission to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with assistance in Ukraine as well as other fragile contexts.
About Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos is photography co-operative that formed in Paris in 1947 by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, David ‘Chim’ Seymour, Rita Vandivert and Maria Eisner.
Magnum is owned and administered entirely by members. The staff serve a support role for the photographers, who retain all copyrights to their own work.
Magnum represents some of the world’s most renowned photographers, maintaining its founding ideals and idiosyncratic mix of journalism, art and storytelling.
The Magnum photographers have documented most of the world’s major events since the 1930s; covering industry, society, people, places of interest, politics, news events, disasters and conflicts.
To discover more go to the Magnum Photos website.
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