60 years of Magnum

This year marks the 60th anniversary of one of the World’s most famous photo agencies; Magnum was formed in 1947 by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier Bresson, George Rodger and David ‘Chim’ Seymour.

Robert Capa, had for some time, promoted the idea of an agency run by photographers, but it seems that this became fully realised after a meeting in the second floor restaurant of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It was here, so the story goes, that the name and structure were decided upon. It works based on the cooperative idea, owned by it’s members, and where the photographers retain the copyright to their images.

The Magnum image library contains some of the most iconic images of the last 60 years.

As an aside; the current (June 16th) issue of Amateur Photographer is devoted to this and includes some interesting articles on the history and photographers, as well as a behind the scenes look at the London offices. It also includes many of the agency’s most famous images which makes it well worth checking out.