The Myth Revisited

Reiner Holzemer

Magnum in Motion, a traveling festival with films by and about Magnum photographers as well as several essays by the agency's multimedia division, is moving on from Guadalajara to Thessaloníki, Istanbul, New York and Melbourne. It began its worldwide tour at the Berlinale Film Festival in February where it opened with the documentary "Magnum Photos: The Changing of a Myth." The film maker, Reiner Holzemer, shares his experience of revisiting his 10-year-old documentary in the company of Magnum photographers.

Robert Capa shooting film during the Spanish Civil War in October 1938. Gerda Taro.

I arrived in Berlin Friday afternoon. In the evening, my film “Magnum Photos: The Changing of a Myth“ was going to be shown at the Berlin Film Festival 2007. I expected no big event, no big movie theatre and no crowds because the film is almost 10 years old. The only advantages that I saw in this late screening were an invitation to Berlin, a nice hotel room and a festival pass, which would give me access to free tickets.

I was not nervous at all when I entered the Berlinale International Film Festival office. Caroline Walke, the assistant for the special screenings series, said “Hello, good to see you! I have great news. The screening tonight is sold out and all the Magnum photographers, who are in town, will come to see the show. Elliott Erwitt is here, Dennis Stock, Martine Franck, Thomas Höpker, Raymond Depardon (the Oscar winner!) and Donovan Wylie. Your film will be the opening of the Magnum in Motion series.“ Now I became nervous, when I left the office.

I remembered the pressure that I felt when I was shooting the film in 1998 and the sickness that came along with the long editing process.

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The Forgotten War?

Magnum Photos with Thomas Dworzak

Central African Republic. February 2007. Anti-government rebels living in the bush. Same area as makeshift camps for displaced civilians, suspected of harboring or sympathizing with the rebels, who fled after their villages were torched by government forces. Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos

In the 1983 movie "Under Fire," an American weekly news magazine publishes a photo of an African conflict with the headline "The Forgotten War." In response, the writer jokes to the photographer that the headline is a way for the editors back home to feel less guilty about not knowing about the war themselves.

With neighbors such as Chad, Sudan and the DRC, the tiny Central African Republic has not received intense media coverage, as Thomas Dworzak commented on his return from the country.

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The Chain, The Maze, The Dirty, The Incarcerated

Magnum Photos

Documenting the conditions of detention centers is not a novel preoccupation of Magnum photographers, nor is reflecting on the philosophy versus the reality of incarceration. Donovan Wylie, Chien Chi Chang, Carl de Keyzer, Alex Majoli and Jean Gaumy have all produced books related to this topic.

Tearsheet from Donovan Wylie's 2004 book 'The Maze.'

For nearly 30 years, the Maze prison, ten miles outside Belfast, played a unique role in the Northern Ireland troubles. Built in 1976, it became a microcosm of the struggle between loyalists and republicans, with prisoners segregated in the infamous H-Blocks according to their political beliefs and membership of paramilitary organizations. It was the scene of violent protests, hunger strikes, mass escapes and deaths of both prisoners and prison staff.

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Bling, Bling

Martin Parr

I have just returned from Dubai where I was photographing the first Dubai DIFC Art Fair. We all know that Dubai is the fastest growing city in the world and this fair was part of an ongoing strategy to try and position Dubai as a cultural destination, to compliment their known love of tourism and business.

Dubai. 2007. Martin Parr/Magnum Photos

This city has a lot of cash swashing around, and when you have bought all the cars, houses, plastic surgery and clothes you need the only thing left to buy is Art. And this is what appeared to be happening at the VIP launch of this fair last Thursday evening. What for me was interesting, is that the normal art fair crowd was entirely different. There were the normal Western Europeans and Americans, but also of course, the Arabs, the wealthy Indians, and the Asians too. This heady mix was wonderful to photograph, it was really a truly international event. The way people dressed and their demeanour was very Bling, not a word I have encountered much, but you know it when you see it.

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Tokyo in passing

Stuart Franklin

I was asked by Magnum’s Tokyo office to attend the opening of a newly curated Magnum Group exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. Tokyo, as aficionados know, offers many things to the passing visitor: disarming politeness, a profusion of electronic noises and gadgets, a city district dedicated to people’s obsessions, and rice wine.

Tokyo, Japan. 1997. Restaurant. Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos. Part of the exhibition “Tokyo Seen by Magnum Photographers" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.

Alienated by jet lag and language difficulties such offerings are a welcome sign of having arrived somewhere with a distinct local culture but at the same at a truly global city.

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Shakira + Samir = true?

Geert Van Kesteren

While working on a new book about Iraq, I came across this image, taken by a family, only a few months ago in Baghdad. This is, let's call him 'Samir', in his bedroom. His niece told me that Samir loves to listen to Western music. Shakira is his number one favourite.

Posters of Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears and Shakira are tacked to Samir's bedroom wall in Baghdad, Iraq in this family photograph.

Samir never leaves his parents’ house; he always stays in, most of the time in his room. No one leaves their house in Iraq, unless it is really necessary. Abduction, roadside- or suicide bombs, car accidents, robbery, torture and murder are daily occurrences. The kidnapping business is booming. A year ago, a ransom of between $8,000 and $180,000 was good enough to get your son or father back alive. Today, people pay that amount of money just to collect the body. Areas, villages and regions are ethnically cleansed, a term politicians do not like to use. Showing sympathy for Shakira will not be appreciated by any radical sectarian militia, the mujahedeen or al-Qaeda. Anyone who shows sympathy for America is a target of their rage.

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International Women's Day

Magnum Photos

The deadline for the 5th Magnum Photos Inge Morath Award is May 15. The $5000 prize is given to a woman photographer under thirty years of age to assist in the completion of a long term documentary project

England. 1963. Eve Arnold on the set of Becket. Photo: Robert Penn.

Today, on International Women's Day, we turn a complicated and multi-faceted topic over to the Magnum Blog's readers to discuss. Click on the post's title to comment.

What has been the greatest female contribution to photography?

View the Magnum In Motion multimedia essay Women’s Day with photographs by Eve Arnold, Martine Frank, Inge Morath, Susan Meiselas, Lise Sarfati and Marilyn Silverstone, produced by Tia Dunn.

Pixelated youth

Simon Wheatley

In an ongoing email conversation with British Magnum photographer Simon Wheatley about photographing youth in different countries, Wheatley also touched upon the fear that the U.K. may be introducing measures that will restrict street photography. He answered a few questions from Malaysia where he is currently working.

Blois, France. 2005. The monotony of another boring afternoon for two youths who have been excluded from school. Simon Wheatley/Magnum Photos

What would be the implications of such legislation for you?
I’m not sure exactly what is being proposed, but if France is anything to go by then it’s very worrying. When you take someone’s eyes away or blur a facial expression you can remove the meaning of the picture. There was a debate on lightstalkers after my story from the banlieue of Blois was placed on the Magnum website. Someone said he mourned the death of photojournalism in France, and I share that sentiment if this is really the way things must go. But France has become very interesting and I do retain hope that the work in Blois might be the beginning of my efforts there. Another comment on lightstalkers said that it would have been more respectful of me to obtain people’s permission before publication, but most of the youths in my pictures from Blois are extremely alienated, and would probably have ripped up any piece of paper I’d ask them to sign. A 14 year old boy of Algerian origin did exactly that with a contact sheet in which he spotted his younger sister, who’d actually asked me to take her picture! I would not expect such a heated reaction in London but I don’t think many of the youth I’ve photographed there would be exactly queuing up to sign releases.

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The Magnum Blog's links page

Magnum Photos

There are almost 60 links to articles about photography and photojournalism on the Magnum Blog's links page. If you'd like to see other articles included, email blog@magnumphotos.com

New York City. 1962. Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos

The above photograph is part of a current Bruce Davidson exhibition at the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation in Paris. The International Herald Tribune published an interview with Davidson in February.