Magnum Stories.

Magnum Stories

edited by Chris Boot

Phaidon/511 pp./$79.95 (hb). Magnum Stories showcases the work of 61 of the most representative members of the photography agency Magnum from its foundation in 1947 to the present. Listed alphabetically, each entry consists of a biography, in many cases written by the photographer him/herself, and a photo assignment of the photographer's choice. Included are Eve Arnold with her work on Malcolm X, Susan Meiselas' war photography and Harry Gruyaert's parody of the current affairs photo story TV Shots. In the introduction, Boot revisits the 60 years of Magnum's history, from Robert Capa and his picture story to the agency's crisis in the late 1990s and its shift in focus toward commercial photography. With 61 perspectives--testimonies--of the true protagonists of Magnum, the photographers, judgments about the professional direction taken by the photo agency and the development of photojournalism are left to the reader.

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