Founding of Agency
The photographers Robert Capa, David "Chim" Seymour, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and William Vandivert were the founding members (Vice Presidents) of Magnum in 1947, having responded with various degrees of enthusiasm to an idea of Capa's. Seymour, Cartier-Bresson and Rodger were all absent from the meeting at which it was founded. (In response to a letter telling him that he was now a member, Rodger wrote back from Cyprus to say that Magnum seemed a good idea but that "It all sounded too halcyon to be true" when Capa had told him of it and that "I rather dismissed the whole thing from my mind".) Rita Vandivert was the first President. (Magnum's own short history of itself deletes the Vandiverts from the record.) Rodger would cover Africa and the Middle East, Cartier-Bresson would cover the area east of that, Seymour and Vandivert would cover Europe and the United States respectively, and Capa would be free to go anywhere.
Magnum is one of the first photographic cooperatives, owned and administered entirely by members. The staff serve a support role for the photographers who retain all copyrights to their own work.
The Magnum cooperative has included photojournalists from across the world and has covered many historical events of the 20th century. The cooperative's archive includes photographs depicting family life, drugs, religion, war, poverty, famine, crime, government and celebrities. Magnum In Motion is the multimedia offshoot of Magnum Photos, based in New York City.
The name "Magnum" was chosen because the founding members always drank a bottle of champagne during the first meetings (cp. magnum Wine bottle).
Read more about this topic: Magnum Photos
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