SEASON09

Magnum Photos is one of the world’s most prestigious and longest surviving artists’ co-operatives. Founded by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, David ‘Chim’ Seymour and George Rodger in 1947, it is now represented by an idiosyncratic mix of sixty plus members worldwide. As a group, they embody the evolution of documentary photography, from traditional photojournalism to a more art-based practice, and reflect the diversity that continues to distinguish the agency.

Eve Arnold is perhaps best known for her benevolent, intimate portraits of actress Marilyn Monroe on the set of Monroe’s last film The Misfits (1961), but she took many iconic photos of Monroe from as early as 1951. Elliott Erwitt’s distinctive photographs of dogs are a heartfelt and original tribute to man’s best friend. Magnum’s youngest member, Jonas Bendiksen takes us on a journey through the peripheral regions of the old Soviet Union in his first major project, Satellites; a documentary about the scattered enclaves, unrecognised mini-states, and other isolated communities that straddle the southern borderlands of the former USSR .

In the remote farmlands near Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alessandra Sanguinetti first met Guille and Belinda. The two cousins were ten and nine years old when Sanguinetti first began to photograph them. Sanguinetti sought to portray the psychological and physical transformations of these girls as they matured into adults. The resulting series of images The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of Their Dreams, represents not only an elaborate collaboration between photographer and subject, but an intimate relationship cultivated over a five-year period.

Alex Majoli has been working as a photojournalist for 20 years, documenting worldwide conflicts for Newsweek, The New York Times and National Geographic. He also has pursued personal projects, which have included documenting the closing of an asylum on Leros in Greece and Libera Me, a reflection on the human condition.