History’s biggest moments, as seen by Magnum photographers
- Text by HUCK HQ
A new exhibition showcasing the best of Magnum’s photojournalism archives is set to open in London this month. The show, titled In Our Time, will bring together 30 of the agency’s most iconic historical shots; from Henri Cartier-Bresson’s World War Two photography to Eve Arnold’s Hollywood portraiture.
All the images chosen were taken between 1936 and 1987 – a period dubbed by Magnum as the “golden age” of photojournalism. Work from Elliott Erwitt, Marc Riboud, Ian Berry and Alex Webb will also be included.
USA. North Carolina. 1950 © Elliott Erwitt / Magnum Photos
During the Ramadan. A normally very busy street deserted by citizens for the first meal of the day. EGYPT. Cairo. 1987 © Harry Gruyeart / Magnum Photos
The exhibition is linked to a 1989 Magnum photo book of the same name, which is being revisited to mark the agency’s 70th anniversary this year.
“This stirring volume of extraordinary photographs, presenting our times in all their elegance, squalor, courage, hope, betrayal, agony, sacrifice, heroism and majesty, is as unsparing of its audience as it was unsparing of its photographers,” historian William Manchester writes in the original In Our Time foreword. “These pictures demand involvement.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu conducts a funeral service in a makeshift tent for a schoolgirl shot by the police. 1985 © Ian Berry / Magnum Photos
USA. New Orleans, Louisiana. 1958. Ernest MILLER nicknamed Kid Punch MILLER trumpet player and singer returning home at 6 am. © Dennis Stock / Magnum Photos
In Our Time will run at London’s Magnum Print Room from September 21 to November 3.
Latest on Huck
Maryam El Gardoum is breaking new shores for Morocco’s indigenous surfers
The Amazigh Atlantic — Through her groundbreaking career and popular surf school, the five-time Moroccan champion is helping women find their places in the waves.
Written by: Sam Haddad
Youth violence’s rise is deeply concerning, but mass hysteria doesn’t help
Safe — On Knife Crime Awareness Week, writer, podcaster and youth worker Ciaran Thapar reflects on the presence of violent content online, growing awareness about the need for action, and the two decades since Saul Dibb’s Bullet Boy.
Written by: Ciaran Thapar
Volcom teams up with Bob Mollema for the latest in its Featured Artist Series
True to This — The boardsports lifestyle brand will host an art show in Biarritz to celebrate the Dutch illustrators’ second capsule collection.
Written by: Huck
A visual trip through 100 years of New York’s LGBTQ+ spaces
Queer Happened Here — A new book from historian and writer Marc Zinaman maps scores of Manhattan’s queer venues and informal meeting places, documenting the city’s long LGBTQ+ history in the process.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Nostalgic photos of everyday life in ’70s San Francisco
A Fearless Eye — Having moved to the Bay Area in 1969, Barbara Ramos spent days wandering its streets, photographing its landscape and characters. In the process she captured a city in flux, as its burgeoning countercultural youth movement crossed with longtime residents.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Tony Njoku: ‘I wanted to see Black artists living my dream’
What Made Me — In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s avant-garde electronic and classical music hybridist Tony Njoku.
Written by: Tony Njoku
