later, in 1966, the Werner Bischof-Robert Capa-
David Seymour Photographic Memorial Fund was
established, later renamed the International Fund
for Concerned Photography, Inc., which evolved
into the International Center of Photography (ICP)
in New York. The ICP maintains an extensive web-
site on Chim, and holds many of his vintage prints.
In 1996, Inge Bondi published the definitive book on
David Seymour, titledCHIM: The Photographs of
David Seymour.
During his short career, David Seymour worked as
a craftsman dedicated to telling stories with images
and not as an artist aiming to exhibit; thus, most
exhibitions, books, and tributes were posthumous.
YvesLaberge
Seealso:Capa, Robert; Cartier-Bresson, Henri;
Life Magazine; Magnum Photos; Portraiture;
War Photography;Biography
Born Didek Szymin, in Warsaw, Poland (then a part of the
Russian Empire), 20 November 1911. The second child
of Regina and Benjamin Szymin. Spent the years 1914–
1919 in Odessa, with his parents and sister. Returned to
Warsaw in 1919. Attended the Jewish Gymnasium Asco-
lah in Warsaw, where he graduated in 1929. Studied in
Germany at the Leipzig Akademie der Graphischen und
Buchkunst from 1929–1931. Lived in Paris from 1932
until 1939. Also studied chemistry at La Sorbonne, in
Paris, in 1933. Debuted as a freelance photojournalist in
1933, under the pseudonym ‘‘CHIM.’’ Published his first
credited photos for a French magazine,Regards, in 1934.
Gained international reputation with his moving photo-
graphs of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Trip to the
United States in 1939. Became U.S. naturalized citizen in- The same year, he volunteered in the U.S. Army,
promoted to sergeant in the 12th Army Corps. Awarded
a Bronze Star in 1945 and promoted to lieutenant in the
U.S. Army. Co-founder of Magnum Photos, a coopera-
tive agency, with associates Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-
Bresson, William Vandivert, and George Rodger, in - First Vice-President of Magnum Photos in 1947.
Commissioned by the UNICEF to photograph children
in the post-war Europe, in 1948. Special correspondent
for the birth of the Israeli state. President of Magnum
from 1954 until his death. Killed by bullet in El Quan-
tara, near Suez, Egypt, 10 November 1956.
Individual Exhibitions
1957 CHIM’s Children; Art Institute of Chicago; Chicago,
Illinois
1996 CHIM: The Photographs of David Seymour; Interna-
tional Center of Photography; New York, New York
1999 Close Enough: Photography by David Seymour
(Chim); The Art Gallery, University of Maryland; Col-
lege Park, Maryland
2003 David Seymour; Institut Valencia d’Art Modern;
Valencia, SpainGroup Exhibitions
1960 The World as Seen by Magnum Photographers; Library
of Congress; Washington, D.C. and traveling
1967 The Concerned Photographer; International Fund for
Concerned Photography, Inc., Riverside Museum; New
York and traveling
1979 This Is Magnum; organized by Pacific Press Services;
Tokyo and Osaka, Japan
1981 Paris/Magnum;Muse ́e du Luxembourg, Paris (traveled)
1989 In Our Time: The World as Seen by Magnum Photo-
graphers; American Federation of the Arts with the
Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Minneapolis, Minnesota
and travelingSelected Works
International Writer’s Congress: Andre ́Gide, Andre ́Mal-
raux, Paris, 1935
Striking workers at a Renault factory, France, 1936
Land Distribution Meeting. Estremadura, Spain, 1936
Picasso in front of his painting Guernica, Paris, 1937
Tereska, Poland, 1948
Peggy Guggenheim, Venice, 1950
First male child born, Alma (Northern Galilee), 1951
Kites, Athens, 1954
Bernard Berenson at the age of 90 in the Borghese Gallery in
Rome, 1955
Sophia Loren at home, 1955
Ingrid Bergman, Cannes, 1956
Port Said, Egypt, 1956Further Reading
Bondi, Inge, with Catherine Chermayeff, Kathy McCarver
Mnuchin, and Nan Richardson, eds.CHIM: The Photo-
graphs of David Seymour. Boston: Bulfinch Press Book,
1996.
Capa, Cornell, ed.David Seymour—‘‘Chim.’’New York:
Grossman Publishers, 1974.
[Seymour, David].David Seymour. Chim. Valencia: Institut
Valencia d’Art Modern, 2003.
Farova, Anna, ed.David Seymour—‘‘Chim.’’New York:
Grossman Publishers, 1966.David Seymour, Bernhard Berenson, Italy, 1955.
[#David Seymour/Magnum Photos]SEYMOUR, DAVID ‘‘CHIM’’