Usually the Magnum Blog shouldn't be about shameless self promotion, it should offer an added value to our readers. Today however, I chose to use our blog for self promotion. Not shameless because I'd like to offer an added value or two.
First of all I'd like to introduce a book to you that was already published in 2001. Many books got lost in the deepness of a publishers warehouse and were recently found again. Secondly I'd like to offer a 25% discount on the books price in the Magnum Store to the first three blog readers who order a signed copy of it. But more on that later.
About two years ago I was lucky to be part of the process when an outstanding multimedia essay about Paul Fusco's body of work "Chernobyl Legacy" was produced at Magnum In Motion. In my humble opinion it's still one of the best, if not the best, Magnum In Motion essay that was produced. A powerful and subtle story, shown by mixing photographs, the photographers voice and diagrams and charts to transport factual information.
The essay was published right in time for the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster and was picked up by a huge number of websites and blogs. Within the first week about a million people saw the essay. Tons of e-mails started to come in expressing deep sympathy with the people shown in the story, e-mails of people who wanted to donate. One of the e-mails that haunt me until today came from a mother who offered to donate all her son's birthday presents to send them off to Belarus. Her son's birthday however was only to come up in about two weeks time...
Screenshot from the Magnum In Motion essay "Chernobyl Legacy" by Paul Fusco
If you haven't watched Paul Fusco's Chernobyl Legacy essay you should do so right away, and if you watched it already go ahead and watch it again. It's a moving and sensitive documentation of history. Certainly not suited for the fainthearted but therefore even more important to understand what happened and what's still happening.
The Book
"Chernobyl Legacy" is a 228 pages book published by the New York based multidisciplinary design firm de.Mo in 2001 and was designed by Giorgio Baravalle. The book is an amazing testimonial, a book showing extraordinary photography, incredibly well designed, it's a storytelling book.
Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, wrote in the book's foreword "The most vulnerable victims of Chernobyl were, in fact, young children or unborn babies at the moment when the reactor exploded. Their adulthood - now fast approaching - is likely to be blighted by that moment, as their childhood has been. Many will die prematurely. Are we to let them live, and die, believing the world indifferent to their plight?
We must not, and that is why this book, which movingly illustrates the Chernobyl Legacy, is so important."
Actor Michael Douglas writes "Chernobyl Legacy gives voice. Its content moves, educates and shows us why we must all become responsible to insure that what happened to Chernobyl never happens again."
I couldn't agree more with both of them. This book is one of my most favourite photography books. It's definetly not a book that you'll have fun looking at, it's not a book to quickly flip through and it's not a book to amuse your friends with. But it's a book about an important event of history, it's a deeply human book and a book that will and should start discussions. A book by a photographer that I always experienced as an extremely generous, mindful, open and helpful man. Thank you Paul Fusco!
The Discount
And as promised in the beginning we are offering a 25% discount on the books price from the Magnum Store for the first three readers who order the book. With the discount you only pay $ 112,50 instead of $ 150 plus shipping for a signed copy of "Chernobyl Legacy" by Paul Fusco. If you want to order and hope for the discount please send me an e-mail. If you are one of the first three you'll get a coupon code from us that you need to use in order to receive the discount. If you do not use this code we can not give a discount anymore once the ordering process is completed.
If you are not one of the first three to order don't worry, we'll have similar special offers for signed books again in the future.
I like the idea that Antoine d'Agata is part of the 'Magnum family', because there is nothing more stimulating than trying to make photographers fit in who don't conform to the usual image of our venerable agency. Nothing could be more boring than accepting a new photographer who is a clone of ourselves.
When I saw Antoine's work for the first time, I had a shock. I had become saturated with photography in general, which I found repetitive and limited. I had tried other formats - square, panoramic, colour, then cinema - all in an attempt to escape boredom or repetition. Suddenly, Antoine's work proved to me that with photography you could still surprise and move people.
I really loved these photos that brought me into the world of the night.
I found them unique, moving, sensual, brutal, sometimes even shocking, wavering between desire, pleasure and suffering - one moment attracting us to desirable bodies or exciting situations, and the next to something we have no reason to desire.
D'Agata spares us nothing, and he spares himself nothing. He seems to photograph everything he experiences, in its entirety, to excess. He puts himself in danger and takes photos at moments when most of us would have given up. You cannot tell where the private ends and the professional begins. This is what drives most photographers, in a constant to and fro between the inner world and the outer world. His work shows a need to speak, to show, to reveal oneself, to cry out - a sense of urgency, as if our existence was threatened.
Henri Cartier-Bresson claimed that one has to step back from reality and become invisible. Robert Capa said you have to get so close to your subject that you feel fear. As for D'Agata, while he belongs perfectly properly to the tradition of reportage, he gets close enough to his subjects to make them blurred, and even includes himself in some pictures, as if to show that to leave oneself out would be a delusion.
Whether it is the work of a photographer, painter or film-maker, a work of art makes sense and touches me when it bears traces of the artist's self-portrait. Patrick Zachmann
With the publishing of Magnum's latest book "Magnum Magnum" (see Martin Parr's introduction) we present you three sample chapters of this epic 6,5kg book on the Magnum Blog. In this book each Magnum photographer is represented by six works chosen by, and accompanied by a critical text from, another member. We started with Chien-Chi Chang by Bruce Davidson and continue our presentation today with Eve Arnold by Elliott Erwitt.
If you were asked to conjure up a seasoned journalist-photographer who has travelled extensively, worked in the most difficult and remote parts of our globe, managed to penetrate and be accepted in exotic cultures at one time, and then average or even banal, familiar ones right afterward, all the while observing and recording with great heart and sympathy the manifestations of our human condition, you would surely come up with the legendary Eve Arnold ... a very big person in a very compact package.
Eve Arnold is the quintessential journalist. Or better, she is what the quintessential photojournalist should be. That is, a curious, visual person, the inconspicuous fly on the wall observing situations without participating in them or attracting attention, opinionated but not judgmental.
I have known Eve as a suburban wife and doting mother in the Long Island exurbs fifty miles from New York City, where she lived years ago, and as a literary person and author of many fine works, now based in her sublime, book-lined London apartment. But I know her especially as the intrepid, highly energetic photographer and colleague, producing picture story after picture story, and picture book after picture book, and as a pillar of our Magnum Photos cooperative. In all of Eve's work, as with her person, the special ability has been getting close to her subjects - often becoming a trusted friend, regardless of their caste or fame, while always maintaining the dignity that permeates her character.
Eve Arnold's legacy is as varied as it is fascinating. It is hard to fathom how one person's work can be so diverse. It covers the humblest to the most exalted, the meanest to the kindest, and everything in between. The subjects are all there in Eve Arnold's photographs and they are treated with intelligence, consideration and sympathy. Most important is Eve's ability to visually communicate her concerns directly, without fanfare or pretence, in the best humanistic tradition. Elliott Erwitt
With the publishing of Magnum's latest book "Magnum Magnum" (see Martin Parr's introduction) we will present you three sample chapters of this epic 6,5kg book on the Magnum Blog. In this book each Magnum photographer is represented by six works chosen by, and accompanied by a critical text from, another member. We start with Chien-Chi Chang by Bruce Davidson.
I got to know Chien-Chi Chang at a small dinner party given in his honour by a New York Times photographer. He stood there quiet, self-composed and observant, like a photo-Buddha, but not with a protruding belly. The gathering was held in a walk-up apartment in what is called 'Chinatown'. I never felt comfortable with its designation because it denotes the 'Other'. Chinatown is thought of as a place of secrets, suspicion and strangeness. Actually, it is all of the above, but it is also a place where Chinese medical doctors practice, of store front shops with goods from Asia, neighbourhood schools, and families surviving and thriving in a New York City community that is vibrant and visually interesting.
It is where Chien-Chi Chang explores aspect of the culture and the people living there. He uncovers the idea of 'Chinatown' in a way that is both lyrical and poetic. This is not an easy thing to do when people may be illegal immigrants, suspicious of outsiders, or where taking an image may be frowned upon for spiritual reasons. I think of his image of a man sitting on a 'flop house' fire escape in the dog days of summer. He is in what appear to be his underpants. He is taking in some fresh air and a sense of his own freedom high above the teeming streets. It would be interesting to know how Chien-Chi found his way into this tenement and gained the trust of its inhabitants.
Chien-Chi seems to connect to alienation. In his portrayal of patients in a Taiwanese mental institution, he chooses to photograph a group strung together with a chain. Here he chooses a formal straight-on view. At the Venice Biennale and other exhibitions, he chose to make these images life-size. Chien-Chi comes to grips with the concept of isolation. These photographs put the viewer into a powerful confrontation with the subject that is visually innovative.
Chien-Chi takes a close-up look at the abuse and banality of arranged marital unions. These marriages between naïve Vietnamese country girls and much older Taiwanese men show the incongruity and despair that is brought to the surface in Chien-Chi's exploration.
Chien-Chi Chang's inner eye goes beyond today's edicts of the media. One will not see sound-bite, fast-food photography in his work. He takes on subtle and difficult subjects that often go unnoticed and brings to light a vision that is passionate, penetrating and profound. Certainly, we can all learn from him. Bruce Davidson
Now that this tome has hit the streets, I thought it would be worthwhile to give some details to the background of this project. All Magnum group projects have to gain board or membership approval, and so it was at the 2006 AGM in London we were discussing Thames and Hudson's interest in doing a book to celebrate our 60th anniversary for 2007.I came up with an idea that the photographers select each other as being a potentially interesting way to get a fresher selection, and to benefit from inside knowledge within the agency.
As most people are aware Magnum is the only agency where the photographers vote on any potential new member, so it would be quite logical that we select each others' work for this book. Peer group knowledge can also be quite illuminating as we know our fellow photographers' work pretty well. This idea then started to get legs and it was clear that the only person capable of orchestrating such an undertaking was Brigitte Lardinois who had worked in the London Magnum cultural department for 12 years. Not only was she liked by all the photographers, she would know all our quirks, foibles and was also very charming and persuasive, a vital ingredient to make this work. One month was allotted to the task of making up the pairings, but in fact this eventually turned into 3 months. Some photographers would have to select more than one, because of the estates, but it soon became obvious this was no easy task. Jane Cutter, an editor at Thames and Hudson likened this process to organising a teenage camping trip. You had to find out who did not want to share a tent with x, who did not mind sharing with anybody, and who was determined to sleep on their own. She also had the problem that some photographers were very popular and were over subscribed with potential selectors, and horror of horrors, some had no suitors.
After 3 months, 4,000 e-mails and hours on the phone it all worked out like a huge jigsaw. A couple of photographers such as Dennis Stock insisted on self selection. Some photographers such as Bruce Davidson insisted that he was selected by Chien-Chi, and that he selected Chien-Chi, who he regards as the most underrated photographer within Magnum. Brigitte then had the task of getting the introductory text out of the photographers, and this too was a daunting task. This process was all the more difficult as the photographers would disappear as the were on assignments or doing personal work in all the corners of the globe.
The texts do display real insights, much affection and respect for their colleague photographers.
So far, so good. At the AGM in 2007 when I was debriefing the member photographers about progress on this project, there was much concern voiced about the procedure for signing off the proofs and of course the quality of the printing. Some photographers demanded to personally sign off their proofs, and this meant sending them to summer retreats, and catching the restless Josef Koudelka at one of his rare times in the Magnum Paris office or other rather complicated arrangements. I agreed to take on the responsibility of checking all the proofs. These finally caught up with me in a hotel in Tokyo and meant getting up at 4am, so they could be returned immediately, as by now the project was on a very tight schedule to come out now for the run up to Xmas.
So finally the book is out and weighing 6.5kg and with 414 photographs it is an epic item. I calculate that at £95 in the UK, this means it works out at £14.62 per kilo, about the same price as cod, so you do get a lot of book for your money.
It has also been published in 7 language editions around the globe.
Surprisingly this is the only recent Magnum group project that included every photographer and estate, a rare achievement, as there is usually a photographer who declines to participate, for various reasons.
My congratulations to Brigitte and the London Magnum office staff who supported her sterling work. I think she could be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
In 2002, Alec Soth traveled with his wife to Bogotá, Colombia to adopt a baby girl. The baby's birth mother gave the new parents a book filled with letters, pictures and poems for their new daughter. 'I hope that the hardness of the world will not hurt your sensitivity,' she wrote. 'When I think about you I hope that your life is full of beautiful things.'
During the two months that the Colombian courts processed their adoption paperwork, Soth set about making his own book for his daughter. Soth recently completed this book, Dog Days Bogotá. On November 9th, an exhibition of this work will debut at Weinstein Gallery in Soth's hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Soth discusses Dog Days Bogotá with his intern, Carrie Thompson, a photography student at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Carrie Thompson: You made this book for your daughter, why did you decide to make it for the public?
Alec Soth: Wow, you're starting with the hardest question - you should be a journalist! Unfortunately I don't have a great answer. This work was produced five years ago. After Sleeping by the Mississippi was published, it didn't feel right to do this book. So I just kept it in my back pocket. After Niagara, I guess I was ready.
CT: Tell me about the dogs, how did they become so important?
AS: I was aware of the street kids in Bogotá. I mean, it is a hard thing to ignore, but I was especially attuned to it because of the adoption experience. But I was uncomfortable photographing these kids. So I photographed street-dogs instead. I guess they were a stand-in for the kids.
CT: So do the dogs have different types of personalities in your eyes - like young street children?
AS: Great question. In a way, this gets at why I was uncomfortable photographing the kids. I mean, I wasn't seeing them as individuals; I was generalizing them as a group. I don't like doing that. The dogs are all a little different, but I'm using them largely as an idea.
CT: It seems like you are searching for something in these images, was there something you were looking for?
AS: In the dog pictures or the book as a whole?
CT: All of the photos, the book.
AS: Yeah, I feel like I was looking for something...I'm just not sure what it was. But, of course, it all has to do with my daughter. Since we weren't given too much information about her background, the whole city became charged with her presence. I guess I was looking for signs of her and her background.
CT: Imagine your daughter looking at this book in five years, what do you want to see in her birthplace?
AS: I guess I want it to be a real place for her. I mean, we are already showing her the pictures (we only tore one page out of the book). We talk about Colombia a lot with her. As a five year old, it is just a mythical place. But over time, I want her to absorb it as a real place and as a real part of her history. I suspect that in five years she would be ready to take a trip there.
As I have another book out I thought I'd post again to follow up on my Tokyo Love Hello and Korean Comfort Women ones, and respond to your comments - sorry for the long delay if anyone is still out there - most were very positive, so thanks a lot for that feedback. (Rafal there is a Magnum book of new work on Korea coming out. Daniel and Alok, an interesting idea to photograph the perpetrators, but few are now alive and I am sure would not come forward.)
This is the cover of the new book, Northern Exposures. Its in B&W and about Rural Life in the North East of England; County Durham to be precise.
Why B&W? It was great to change modes - it is also in medium format, on Mamiya 7s mostly - and to adopt a slower more contemplative approach than towards the frenetic urban life of Tokyo. It was shot in some of the same time frame as Tokyo too. I like to keep plugging away at my own country, exploring England at the same time I am exploring foreign places. Maybe it keeps you rooted. But the answer to why it is B&W is nothing more complex than I wanted to. It just felt right.
What started it off? It all started from a small commission from Side Gallery in Newcastle who were working on a larger group project on Durham Coalfields, the onetime heartland of the defunct British coal-mining industry. Once I got started I found myself hooked into it, in Cartier-Bresson's phrase, it got between the shirt and skin, and I decided to continue working on it for my own interest.
With my new book Tokyo Love Hello being launched, I thought it might be interesting to some of you out there to get an idea of what sort of issues, problems and questions have gone through my mind during the process of making this book.
How, as a photographer, do you try to put out your work in such a way as to make the most sense to you and, hopefully, to your audience? What in fact DO you want to say?
Front cover of Chris Steele-Perkins' new book Tokyo Love Hello.
Should you do a book, a magazine story, an exhibition, a slide show, a podcast, a Magnum In Motion-style web piece, a combination of these things; all of them? How will this affect the work? An exhibition will create a different response to a book. With a web piece you can use sound, in a magazine you might reach an audience of millions. If you do an exhibition is it like doing the book on the wall? If you do a book is it an exhibition between covers?
Usually the Magnum Blog shouldn't be about shameless self promotion, it should offer an added value to our readers. Today however, I chose to use our blog for self promotion. Not shameless because I'd like to offer an added value or two.
Magnum Magnum is a 564 pages, 13.3 pounds heavy book edited by Brigitte Lardinois. It was published in English by "
Now that this tome has hit the streets, I thought it would be worthwhile to give some details to the background of this project. All Magnum group projects have to gain board or membership approval, and so it was at the 2006 AGM in London we were discussing Thames and Hudson's interest in doing a book to celebrate our 60th anniversary for 2007.I came up with an idea that the photographers select each other as being a potentially interesting way to get a fresher selection, and to benefit from inside knowledge within the agency.
