MAGNUM PHOTOS
Magnum is a cooperative photographic agency
devoted to the artistic and editorial independence
of all its members. Founded in 1947 by Robert
Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and
David Seymour (‘‘Chim’’), Magnum became the
world’s preeminent international photo agency,
representing photographers from all over the world
and every point on the photojournalistic spectrum.
Many of Magnum’s early members had built their
reputations on war photography. They shared a
common bond of leftist political views that informed
the cooperative organization of the agency. Rather
than proposing common political agendas, aesthetic
sensibilities, or personal goals, Magnum strives for
idealism in its members, who share an unmatched
dedication to the power of photography and the
independence of the individual photographer.
Magnum was the brainchild of Robert Capa
(born Endre Friedmann), a Hungarian exile who
moved to Paris from Germany in 1933. He became
known as the world’s greatest war photographer
while documenting the Spanish Civil War. In Paris
he befriended several other photographers, artists,
and political activists, many of whom were also
recent e ́migre ́s. During this time, the Popular Front
was gaining tremendous strength, and its supporters
began to harness the propagandistic power of the
photograph to rally additional support for their
cause. Meanwhile, the surging popularity of news-
papers and illustrated magazines in Europe and the
United States created endless demand for photo-
graphs documenting current events.
As photojournalism became an increasingly
popular career, particularly among leftist political
activists in Europe, new issues arose concerning
the governance and ownership of their photos.
Most magazines and newspapers hired photo-
journalists to work on individual assignments.
The original photographs, negatives, and copy-
rights for all the material produced through the
course of that assignment usually then belonged
to the magazine or newspaper that commissioned
the work. This system allowed photographers little
control over how their works were used: cropping
their images or isolating them from their original
contexts could significantly alter the photograph’s
meaning or original composition, and the pho-
tographer was powerless to stop it. Furthermore,
photographers could only receive income from
each photograph once, regardless of how fre-
quently the image was reproduced. Photographers
had little choice but to continue to work under this
system because of the high costs associated with
traveling to remote locations. Because photojourn-
alists relied on news agencies to cover the initial
financial costs of each project, working on projects
without editorial support was exceedingly difficult.
During the 1940s, many photographers began to
advocate for greater control over their work. By
1943, Robert Capa had conceived of a photogra-
phers’ cooperative that would strengthen the rights
of its individual members through unification.
Although Capa discussed his vision with several
photographer friends, gaining support from George
Rodger and David Seymour, among others, it
would be several years before his plans came to
fruition. In the meantime, Capa joined the Amer-
ican Society of Magazine Photographers, where he
advocated for the rights of photojournalists to have
more control over their assignments, negatives,
photographs, and copyrights.
In the spring of 1947, Capa finally organized a
meeting of interested people, including Bill Vandi-
vert, a photographer forLife,hiswife,Rita,and
Maria Eisner, who had founded and run Alliance
Photos in Paris in the 1930s. Over lunch at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York, they estab-
lished Magnum Photos, Inc. Henri Cartier-Bresson,
David ‘‘Chim’’ Seymour, and George Rodger were
not present (and in fact, had no idea such a meeting
was taking place), but were nevertheless made vice-
presidents of the organization. This group of seven
members became the original shareholders of Mag-
num. They planned for offices in New York and
Paris, to be run respectively by their new president,
Rita Vandivert, and Maria Eisner, now secretary and
treasurer. The group assigned each photographer a
region of specialty: Bill Vandivert would cover the
United States, ‘‘Chim,’’ Europe; Cartier-Bresson,
Asia; and Rodger, the Middle East and Africa;
Capa would float across all regions as needed.
Although office staff managed the agency’s day-to-
day operations, including promoting Magnum,
attracting and coordinating assignments, and mana-MAGNUM PHOTOS