Time to get a head start your Xmas shopping with the latest Magnum Square Print Sale! 71 Magnum Photographers share images on the theme of “Conditions Of The Heart: On Empathy And Understanding In Photography”. Signed or estate stamped archival prints from your favorite Magnum photographers are only $100 bucks so get your credit cards ready and let the shopping begin! Hit the jump for more details!
Magnum Square Print Sale – Conditions Of The Heart
71 Magnum photographers were asked to select an image that represents the idea of empathy and the vital connection that exists between photographer, subject and audience. The images are personal and deeply emotional depictions of the world that are close to each photographer’s heart.
Emotion is one of the most difficult things to depict in photography. Seeing how the modern masters at Magnum Photos interpret this theme is both enlightening and inspiring. Even if you’re not shopping for prints it’s worth checking out the sale to see how each photographer sees empathy and emotion in their own work..
Here are some of my favorite pics from this sale:
Jonas Bendiksen
Qikiqtarjuaq, Canada. 2004.
I took this picture in Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut, a small village in Northern Canada. At the time, in 2004, I was on a photography assignment for a German magazine. While the location itself was magnificent, a surreal piece of urbanity dropped into vast white wilderness, the story the magazine was running was quite dark. Along with a journalist, I had been sent to try to understand the community’s many social issues. Different generations were struggling to understand one another, as the emergence of the Internet, TV, substance abuse and general feelings of isolation challenged traditional practices such as hunting and fishing. During the two weeks I was there, I struggled with my role as a complete outsider, as I had been sent to observe what felt like very private matters. At the same time, I was enamored as I watched the rituals of daily life unfold amidst all the stark and awesome beauty around us. — Jonas Bendiksen
Magnum Square Print by Jonas Bendiksen – $100.00
Bruce Davidson
Coney Island July Fourth Fireworks. New York City, U.S.A. 1962.
Sometimes they don’t tell stories, they simply speak as images. They express feeling, increase knowledge. Photographs can draw passion, beauty and understanding. And then there is love. -– Bruce Davidson
Magnum Square Print by Bruce Davidson – $100.00
Nikos Economopoulos
Nomads. Village in Kars, Turkey. 1990.
In Turkey, I was going to places not so much in order to discover, but mostly to recall.
Gestures, human emotions, or an overall feeling that was somehow imprinted in me would
occasionally be awakened. Perhaps I was seeking to enliven shreds of childhood memories, or
an innocence lost. Photography was the means and the excuse. On that day in Kars it was
everything together, all piled up, one on top of the other: the child’s gaze, the companionship,
the endless journey into the big, vast world. — Nikos Economopoulos
Magnum Square Print by Nikos Economopoulos – $100.00
Elliott Erwitt
Ireland. 1968.
The ability to understand and share the feelings of another is the reason everyone should have a dog. — Elliott Erwitt
Magnum Square Print by Elliott Erwitt – $100.00
Bruce Gilden
Man walking in Wall Street, New York City. September 17th, 2001.
I had just arrived in Surrey, England to print my book Coney Island when I was told by the cab driver that two planes had hit the World Trade Center. ‘Oh! fuck!’ I said. I was concerned for my family for we lived less than a mile from the towers. I wanted to return immediately but it took one week for me to get home. This photo was taken the day Wall Street reopened. To me this image reflects how everybody felt in the aftermath of the tragedy. -– Bruce Gilden
Magnum Square Print by Bruce Gilden – $100.00
Wayne Miller
David in Robot Costume. Orinda, California. 1956.
My brother David was always building things. Here he is off to the school bus wearing his latest creation, a robot, made of cardboard, silver paint and tubing. Once inside the costume it took considerable family effort to attach working arms. He showed off his costume that day at the school’s Halloween Day parade.
It was quite normal for Dad to follow David to school with a camera around his neck. He shadowed his four children frequently for three years as part of his photo project that appeared in his 1958 book, The World is Young. Dad thought the life of children was quite different from the life of adults—he hoped to share what it looked like through photographs. -– Jeanette Miller, daughter of Wayne Miller
Magnum Square Print by Wayne Miller – $100.00
Inge Morath
Marilyn Monroe on the set of The Misfits. Reno, Nevada. 1960
In an interview with director Gail Levin for her documentary, Making ‘The Misfits’ (2002), Morath recalled the difficulty of photographing actors such as Monroe, who ‘knew all the tricks about how to pose.’ The photographer’s task was to capture how they worked, the element of surprise that they delivered to a scene, without getting in the way. What she wanted, Morath told Levin, was to photograph ‘the unposed person,’ so she watched and waited for the actor to expose his or her vulnerability. -– John P. Jacob, Inge Morath: On Style, Abrams, 2016
Magnum Square Print by Inge Morath – $100.00
Matt Stuart
This is the picture I get the most compliments on. I shot it in Trafalgar Square, London, early one weekday morning. I was fascinated by the workers’ black legs and their graphic shapes against the white wall. I had been bending over for about half an hour, when a far too confident pigeon landed and decided to strut by. I instinctively shot this one frame but, as I was doing so, I noticed something had happened with the human legs. It all happened so quickly that I wasn’t exactly sure what I had got, but something felt right. When I saw my contact sheets, I was delighted to find legs within legs and that the coattails mimicked the pigeon’s tail. I like to think that humans aren’t the only ones that need to get up early for work. -– Matt Stuart
Magnum Square Print by Matt Stuart – $100.00
Alex Webb
Kochi, India, 2014
Connection in photography can take many forms. While one typically thinks of the connection in photographing people one knows, there can also be a kind of intimacy with a place or a culture itself. As a street photographer, it is this latter connection that intrigues me. Over the years, I’ve learned that each culture demands its own unique and complicated approach—often with many nuanced variations—in order to photograph the life of its streets. For instance in Mumbai, people sometimes seem so interested in strangers, one may later discover smiling faces peering into the edges of one’s photographs. However, in a city such as Kochi in southern India where I took this photograph, one may also encounter unexpected quieter moments.
Ultimately, no matter how gently and respectfully one tries to photograph in a culture other than one’s own, how long a street photographer can linger is largely thanks to the grace of others. -– Alex Webb
Magnum Square Print by Alex Webb – $100.00
Patrick Zachmann
What drives me to take a picture?
With the exception of certain specific periods in my life when, having been exposed to too much violence, I felt a deep desire to work on landscapes, my lens generally errs towards people, human presence. It’s an irresistible need, actually; even if I sometimes feel despaired by humanity, I always look for a sense of connection with the people I photograph.
I was working on a story about the victims of Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile, where I explored the Atacama Desert, the driest and most extreme desert region in the world. I would drive for hours without seeing another living being. One day this ice cream vendor appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of the desert! I was researching a project on the disappearance of human traces when suddenly, this man appeared, as if by miracle, where I was least expecting him.
I stopped my car, climbed out and waved at him, quickly photographing this surreal scene. -– Patrick Zachmann
Magnum Square Print by Patrick Zachman – $100.00
The Magnum square print sale is a great chance to grab a singed print from your favorite Magnum photographer for only $100 bucks and framed prints are only $199. Images are printed from digital negatives on 6×6″ Fuji Crystal Archive Matte Paper. These aren’t simple inkjet prints but rather actual chromogenic prints printed on archival paper that is designed to last!
The Magnum Square Print sale ends on November 4th at 6:00pm EST so grab your favorite image while you can!
UPDATE: The Magnum square print sale is now closed. Stay tuned to StreetShootr and I’ll let you know when the next one is happening!
StreetShootr’s Take
I’m a big fan of the Magnum Square Print sales and own a few prints myself. These high quality archival prints are printed on 6″x6″ paper but the image area is a little bit smaller than that so they’re definitely small. You’ll want to find an intimate little corner of your house to display them where someone could get close and personal with the print.
The Magnum Square Print sale is filled with a lot of excellent images but I think my personal favorite is the little robot boy by Wayne Miller. Head over to the Magnum Photos website to see them all!
What’s your take on the latest Magnum Square Print sale? Is $100 bucks the right price for a print from your favorite Magnum photographer? Or are the prints just too small to interest you? Post your ideas int he comments below and keep the conversation going!