Magnum: even today, with photography and photographers every where, the reputation of this 62-year-old photojournalism cooperative is magic. The agency opened a gallery on the left bank of Paris last Friday (it already has one on the right bank), and it wasn’t hard to get interest from the general press here — in this case, I did a short article on the gallery, with a slide show, for The Daily Beast.
Magnum’s space in Saint Germaine-des-Pres, near Brasserie Lipp and Cafe de Flore, has started out with an exhibition curated by Robert Delpire, himself a photography legend. It was Delpire, now in his 80s, who published Robert Frank’s landmark Les Americains in 1958, when Frank hadn’t yet found a publisher in the U.S. — among other things.
The show is called demain/hier and it showcases works by the younger generation of Magnum members, those who joined after 2000. They include Alessandra Sanguinetti (one image from her On the Sixth Day is above), Trent Parke, Mark Power, and Cristina Garcia Rodero.
But the gallery shows older works too, and it’s hoping to create a salon-like atmosphere. As I wrote:
Magnum wants visitors to look, linger, buy and eventually perhaps even sip Champagne [there]. The choice of [the coop’s] name, after all, had everything to do with the founders’ serious affinity for champers.
Sounds like another reason to browse and to linger in that neighborhood. For evidence, check out the Beast‘s slide show.
Photo: Courtesy Magnum