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Magnum pipeline
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New Nominees: Alessandra Sanguinetti, Jacob Sobol, Mikhael Subotzky
New Members: Mark Power, Trent Parke
New Associates: Chris Anderson, Christina Rodero Garcia
Maya Goded and Simon Wheatley will stay on as Nominees
Ilkka Uimonen stays on as an associate.
One woman as an associate, two women as a nominee. Are we making progress?
John Vink
by
John Vink
at
Mon Jun 25 23:26:20 UTC 2007
(ed. Mar 12 2008)
Phnom Penh, centre of the Univ,
Cambodia
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congratulations to Trent Parke…. and others….. :))))) Mikhael is a cool photographer indeed….
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3 out of 10 – Ah! yes, progress indeed – but methinks there’s a long haul still ahead!
– always loved Christina Rodero Garcia’s work & congrats to the others – interesting variety of works.
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Couldn’t get much on the web, its slow here…..Jacob Sobol work looked interesting. I’d like to see who was rejected…...it would make better chat. :)
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wow about Mikhael Subotzky..I wish I knew what it was like for him to shoot these images.
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Is there is any possibility to see new nominees work? And if John vink share something about the selection process, it could be very interesting.
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Shame about Geert mate….
Re progress, judging from the very boring – yawn – ‘Clearing the way for the Olympics’ feature from the UK office (to be expected!) – NO !
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I love Sobol! :)))))...since first seeing “Sabine” here 3 years ago, i fell in love with that series/book (i still dream of house in snowstorm at night)...and his “Tokyo” is magnificent too….wish to chat and drink with jacob…eventually….
b
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Alessandra’s a great choice too….
though it still bothers the hell out of me that the (at least this world) photography world still orients itself so much toward Magnum, it would be interesting to know how many applied…I think the number of applicants is/would be even more revealing than the selections made…
more importantly to me, is that several magnum members are such wonderful and supportive/enthusiastic members of LS too (john, david alan, jonas) without the slightest bit of pomposity, grandiosity or bullshit :)))
that means much much more to me, as a member of LS and as a photographer, than the rest ;)))
cheers,
b
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What I really like about the Magnum site is seeing that Josef Koudelka and I have the same system for filing pictures. What would we have done if God hadn’t invented the floor?
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John: Yes, this is wonderful news! Top marks on the progress side for 2007!!! Congratulations to all.
Thanks so much for sharing the news!
Jenny
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Here is a link for the third nominee, Alessandra Sanguinetti
Interesting choices, all of which I like. Seems like Magnum is straddling the Art/PJ dichotomy with Sanguinetti on the one hand and Subotzky on the other—while Sobol seems to ride between the two poles as well.
Good to know that everyone else is still on track as they climb up the ranks.
Bob, I dont see why it should bother you that Magnum acts as a kind of North Star for photographers. The fact that they continue to recruit such good nominees and manage to rejuvenate the organization , consistently supporting excellent and innovative work, seems overall to me a good thing. I dont think they monopolize the best work, as there are other collectives that also excel - most notably Oculi - and there are individuals too who remain resolutely independent ( and here I could list several who are members of LS). The definition of the best in photography is not exclusively Magnum’s but certainly the organization continues to foster what is best—and how many agencies out there can be said to do that, for 60 years running?
And given all the inevitable tensions that must exist between the fierce individuals who make up that organization, I would say that it is remarkable that each year consistently good choices are made in the selection process.
Well done, folks,
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Jon: i couldn’t be happier about the photographers at Magnum and my beef is not with them, but with a more problematic orientation: we associate a place (ideal?) as the apotheosis about photographic expression or community. I love Magnum (as an historical institution) and I love most of the Magnum photographers (the work) and those who’ve had the chance to meet/write to are wonderful and generous spirits (the most important aspect to me). I just weary of others talking about Magnum as if it’s some sacred ideal: when in fact, Magnum is much more interesting, magnanimous and beautiful than that: it aint some holy grail, but a wonderful community of profoundly talented photographers…just as im not a luddite, im not anti-magnum (that should be clear by now), but anti-worship ;)))....people matter, not dieties ;))))
running,
b
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Well I agree that Hero Worship is probably not a good thing, but no one here is indulging in idolatry and I would think that most of us, except for the most callow and naive among us, maintain a healthy skepticism about such organizations, since we all know that institutions are inherently compromised and faulty in their workings. But what impresses me about Magnum is that it manages to transcend its limitations, and that is no small thing.
We can use Magnum as a beacon without necessarily converting it into a Golden Calf.
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There’s also the long list of people who have left Magnum: Salgado, Nachtwey, Delahaye, Mary Ellen Mark, Eugene Richards, etc. The list goes on.
Magnum’s imprimatur may be great, but how good is membership in Magnum in terms of the finances of your career? If you shoot the next “Afghan Girl,” do you really want to have to share the spoils with 60 people? How does this type of thing work at Magnum?
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Jon: i think great work should be the beacon, not an agency, and i agree about other agencies too (i have personal friendships with members of other great places like occuli (will be doing soon a projection for some) and veras, to site 2 others)...maybe my words were misconstrued (not by you, but the general sense)...anyway, my comment was this: why do so many still cling so cloyingly to what goes on behind the “meetings”, etc…anyway, it doesnt matter. great agency with profound impact and historical importance comprised of great women and men who have been, often, hero’s, inspiration and mentors to me as well…anyway, Im still very happy to see the 3 new names, :))))...im especially delighted to see Jakob and Alessandra there :))...okay, running to teach….
no offense intended to Magnum or members…just my observation as a photographer, one with a background in fine arts: it’s been interesting to discover new orientations since participating and talking with PJ’s at LS in the last 2 1/2 years ;))))
b
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“anyway, my comment was this: why do so many still cling so cloyingly to what goes on behind the “meetings”, etc…” Lack of selfesteem would be a too easy answer? Congrats to everybody :)
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Hi John, just out of curiosity, how many photogs. where there to choose from? Simon
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The works of Sanguinetti, Sobol and Subotsky is especially beautiful and telling.. my first introduction to their work. Wonderful…
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Simon: there were a little over 200 portfolios submitted in Paris and about the same in NY. I don’t know bout London…
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Preston: Yes, certain photographers have made their names at Magnum, done some of their best work while represented by the agency and then left for a variety of reasons. . . but always as well established photographers and now able to keep 100% or at least more of their sales for themselves.
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Sobol and Sanguinetti are fantastic works, and very inspiring too. someone can tell me the differences between beeing nominee, member and associate? the work of one has less value than the others or what define this hierarchical scale, if it is? thanks and kudos to Magnum
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Nominee: 2 years during which you’re checked out and can still bill your former clients directly. You have the right to talk during the meetings (but will they listen?)
Associate: 2 more years during which you’re being watched. Everything has to be billed through Magnum. You have the right to talk but no right to vote.
Member: no one can kick you out, everything has to be billed through Magnum, you can vote AND you can smoke a cigar with the boys… ;-)
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After two years of Nominee membership, photographers then present another portfolio if they wish to apply for ‘Associate Membership’. If successful, the photographer then becomes bound by all the rules of the agency, and enjoys all the facilities of its offices and worldwide representation. The only difference between an Associate Member and a full Member is that an Associate Member is not a Director of the Company and does not have voting rights in its corporate decision making. Finally, after another two years, an Associate member wishing to apply for full membership presents a further portfolio of work for consideration by the members. Once elected as a full member, this effectively confers membership of Magnum for life or for as long as the photographer chooses. No member photographer of Magnum has ever been asked to leave.
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Hello Friends, I want to say something about magnum. Because it has great influence in my life. I am from Bangladesh, so there are few books and exhibitions in Bangladesh about photography. I have learned photography by seeing magnum photos website. It’s simply wonderful. It has dozens of masters. You can really smell them; most of them are really photographers. And new nominees are great, I thing there are few agencies who will take these kind of photographers at this time!!!
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Great to see an Aussie on the the Board!
Not sure if Trent smokes cigars though!
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Well… probably not the kind René Burri is smoking…
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There’s also the long list of people who have left Magnum: Salgado, Nachtwey, Delahaye, Mary Ellen Mark, Eugene Richards, etc. The list goes on. Two who left around 1980 and are generally forgotten were Mark Godfrey and Charlie Harbutt. They formed an agency named Archive Pictures which only last a cupla years. Their hope was to form a small personal agency (not unlike Agency VII?) but at the time it didn’t work. Sorry for the digression. Thanks, John V for all the information.
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The great and wonderful Charlie Harbutt. I shall always be grateful to him. He turned my photography world upside down and then rattled out much of the mediocrity. Great teacher. Great photographer.
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What about Francesco Zizola, Jan Dago and Joachim Ladefoged who were all Magnum nominees at some point. Did they get kicked out? Lucky for Ladefoged he was accepted by VII soon after his Magnum departure. On the other hand from what i know Chris Anderson left VII to join Magnum but was at first not accepted until he re-applied the following year. Any comment on this John?
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I think an explanation regarding Ladefoged can be found in his interview with Martin Fuch on his website.
http://journalofaphotographer.com/interview_joachim_ladefoged.html
An interesting thing was Eugene Richards left Magnum for VII and Chris Anderson left VII for Magnum on the same year. It’s just like player transfers in basketball.
Just joking anyway
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¨Two who left around 1980 and are generally forgotten were Mark Godfrey and Charlie Harbutt. They formed an agency named Archive Pictures which only last a cupla years.¨
Yes, Ernesto Bazan and Mary Ellen Mark left MAGNUM for Archive Pictures.
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Also, British photographer Paul Lowe was with Magnum from 1993-2001. Hey, there have been many people associated with Magnum over the years who never became full members. . . Vojta Dukat, a Czech photographer, was made a nominee but they already had Koudelka. . .
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90 photographers sent in work to the Magnum London office this yr.
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Perhaps part of what makes magnum such a touchstone is that we all (few of whom are members or whatever) spend so much time discussing and debating what magnum is. What I especialy like is that not even the members can agree on that. I like that magnum seems (to me) to be a constantly shifting argument on photography (and the business/art thereof). Personaly I find it funny and also wonderful that people with no association whatsoever with magnum are at times so vocal as to the practices of the same. Just this alone speaks volumes as to the status of magnum in our world. I submitted my work, always considered it to be a long shot, but was excited to be submitting. And I’ll submit again. And we will all be back here discussing and dissecting magnum (on Lightstalkers, where members of the discussion are sometimes members of magnum). Congratulations to photographers who made the cut. And respect to you all.
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Bob Black
Suspect Photog/Writer
(Dreamer- Archer-Husband-Dad)
Toronto
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