History of Photography and Magnum Photos - Magnum Photo Agency: Robert Capa, Henri Cartier Bresson, David Seymour and George Rodger

Magnum Photos was created as a photographic cooperative, a departure from con-ventional practice, in an attempt to safeguard photographers' freedoms, by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier Bresson, David Seymour (Chim), and George Rodger. Though always a commercial venture, Magnum was created as an "endorsement of the subtlety and potential of photography when practiced by gifted individuals". It was, in the words of Lee Jones, former Bureau Chief, Magnum, New York, "a mirror of the times in which it lives".(2) Its photographers believed that the relationship between content and form was fragile and easily betrayed, that the way in which a subject was portrayed could change the emphasis and meaning.

At the time of Magnum's formation, "the emphasis was initially on reporting, reflecting in part a commonality of painful experience and a curiosity and hope for a newly reopened world", Lee Jones described the early days of Magnum as a time when people really believed you could make the world a better place. In its early years, primarily to supplement the members' incomes, and to provide a stable of potential members, Magnum would sign on other photographers to work. as 'stringers' or contributors. A Magnum photographer first became a nominee, then an associate member, and finally a full member.

Previous to its inception, many magazines however supportive of its' photographers, would crop the individual's point of view to suit the corporate image of the magazine; allowing others to choose the image, however, diminishes the photographer's capability, while corrupting his intended meaning by creating a different visual context from the moments originally perception. The above founder members had a healthy disregard for commercialism, since they wished their photographs to keep a 'moral purpose', reflecting their 'personal visions' of the world. They knew how easily photographs were used to convey untruthful messages. Their responsibility was to document what was happening, and what was about to happen, being directly opposed to making photos to cater for the media's needs. They knew what they needed as photographers and had a commitment to total independence, keeping all copyright to their photographs within the agency. All rights now remained with the photographer; his captions must accompany the photograph, and there would be no re-cropping, a photograph could only be produced once under a legal agreement.

The safeguarding of rights helped Magnum photographers to survive financially, allowing them to spend a great deal of time working on major stories, either on assignment or on their own initiative, then sell their work to support themselves and their future ventures. A percentage of earnings was put back into the agency to support new members.

This is how Chim explained the existence of Magnum: "We knew the staff position on a picture magazine was not the best solution to our creatives needs and problems. Our original aspiration was to enlarge to ten members, and then remain at that size, limited in numbers as an exclusive photo club. Very soon 'exclusive' disappeared. We found out that was not what we wanted. We were quickly confronted with the problems of young, talented photographers who came to show their work, asking for advice, encouragement and help. We understood Magnum would fail if it continued to close its doors against new talent. We began to absorb some of this young talent. Some of the new members liked the idea of working together, while others stayed but a short time. We kept growing".

In the early days a photographer had a clear cut advantage, since large areas of the world had never been photographed, and they were able to photograph virtually everything; there was a ready market for their work. The mistake was in thinking it would last. Magnum photographers were provided with an independent base and a human warmth' from which to work. They were free to choose their own subjects; they sold their photographs to a wide market of magazines including 'Life', 'Paris Match', 'Holiday' and 'Ladies' Home Journal'.

Cartier-Bresson photographed in India at the time of Ghandi's assassination, and in the Far East; Chim was in Europe for UNESCO, while Capa was 'at large'. Capa's work involving women and children in Soviet Russia was published, uncensored, in the 'Ladies' Home Journal', in February 1948. Chim's 'Children of Europe' was included in 'Life' magazine, 27th December, 1948. During the same year there was a Magnum group project - 'people are People the World Over' - which was published in 'Ladies Home Journal', which ran monthly for a year.