Magnum Photos

dictionary

Apr 12

A highly esteemed international photographic cooperative, established in 1947 by four pioneering photographers - Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and David "Chim" Seymour. The agency is globally renowned for its extensive range of photographic styles, including photojournalism, documentary, and fine art photography, representing the work of a distinguished roster of photographers. These photographers maintain their individual artistic autonomy while contributing to a collective archive and participating in a cooperative business structure. Magnum Photos Agency is distinguished by its commitment to preserving photographers' copyright, ensuring creative control, and promoting high-quality, impactful images that capture significant moments in history, culture, and the human experience. The agency's collaborative ethos and dedication to excellence have made it a leading force in the world of photography for over seven decades.

Magnum Photographers:

The story

Magnum Photos is a photo agency owned by its photographers. It was founded in 1947, two years after the Second World War, by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David Seymour, known as Chim. Maria Eisner and Rita and William Vandivert also took part in the founding.

For Rodger, the change came in 1945, at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. While he worked there, he found himself looking for graphically pleasing compositions of the piles of bodies.

Rodger and the other founders wanted to choose their own stories. Magnum changed the rules in two ways. It was a cooperative, so the photographers owned the agency. And the photographers kept the copyright to their pictures.

At first, the founders divided the world between them. Rodger took Africa and the Middle East, Cartier-Bresson South and East Asia, Seymour Europe and William Vandivert the United States. Capa had no fixed region.

"Magnum is a community of thought, a shared human quality, a curiosity about what is going on in the world ..." (Henri Cartier-Bresson)

Featured

Newsha Tavakolian

Newsha Tavakolian is an Iranian photographer and Magnum Photos member, born in Tehran in 1981. Her book And They Laughed at Me (Kehrer Verlag, 2026) revisits the photographs she once rejected.

Ernst Haas

Ernst Haas (1921–1986) was an Austrian-born photographer who helped turn color photography into an art. A member of Magnum Photos from 1949, he became famous with a 24-page color essay on New York in Life magazine in 1953.

Josef Koudelka

Josef Koudelka (born 1938) is a Czech-born photographer who has been a French citizen since 1987. He is known for his pictures of the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Prague and for Gypsies, his long study of Roma life.

Abbas Attar

Abbas Attar (1944–2018), known simply as Abbas, was an Iranian photographer based in Paris and a member of Magnum Photos. He covered wars and revolutions for six decades, above all the revolution in his own country.

Thomas Hoepker

Thomas Hoepker (1936–2024) was a German photojournalist from Munich and a member of Magnum Photos, which he led as president from 2003 to 2006. For many years he worked for Stern, in East Berlin and later in New York.

Alec Soth

Alec Soth (born 1969) is an American photographer from Minneapolis. On long road trips he photographs the people he meets, with a big view camera that makes everyone slow down.

Harry Gruyaert

Harry Gruyaert (born 1941) is a Belgian photographer who lives in Paris. He was one of the first photographers in Europe to work entirely in color, and he has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1982.

William Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith (1918–1978) was an American photojournalist. His long photo essays for Life magazine, like Country Doctor (1948), set a new standard for the photo essay.

Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry (born 1950) is an American photographer known for his color portraits and his long work in Asia. His portrait Afghan Girl was on the cover of National Geographic in June 1985.

Bieke Depoorter

Bieke Depoorter (born 1986) is a Belgian photographer and a member of Magnum Photos. She is known for asking strangers if she can spend the night in their homes, first in Russia, then in the United States and Egypt.

Jonas Bendiksen

Jonas Bendiksen (born 1977) is a Norwegian documentary photographer and a member of Magnum Photos. His books look at community, faith and technology, from forgotten corners of the former Soviet Union to seven men who say they are the Messiah.

Martin Parr

Martin Parr (1952–2025) was a British documentary photographer and a member of Magnum Photos. His bright, close and funny colour photographs of the seaside, shopping and tourism changed British documentary photography.

Elliott Erwitt

Elliott Erwitt (1928–2023) was an American photographer, born in Paris and raised in Milan. He joined Magnum Photos in 1953 and worked for magazines such as Life, Look and Collier’s.

Robert Capa

Robert Capa (1913–1954) was a Hungarian-born photographer and one of the founders of Magnum Photos. He photographed wars from Spain in 1936 to Indochina in 1954, and worked close to the people in them.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004) was a French photographer and one of the founders of Magnum Photos. With a small Leica, he photographed life on the street and great moments of history, from India and China to the Soviet Union.

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Martin Kaninsky

Martin is the creator of About Photography Blog. With over 15 years of experience as a practicing photographer, Martin’s approach focuses on photography as an art form, emphasizing the stories behind the images rather than concentrating on gear.

Magnum Photos

Magnum Photographers:

The story

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