Magnum Photos is reviving its seminal "In Our Time" exhibition, marking a pivotal period in photojournalism history that spanned the 1930s through the post-war era. The exhibition, now available both at Magnum's Print Room in London and online through the Magnum Shop, showcases some of the most iconic and historically significant photographs from the agency's 70-year legacy.
The original exhibition captured what Raymond H. DeMoulin, Vice President of the Eastman Kodak Company, described as both "the worst of times and the best of times" for photojournalists during the 1930s. Despite war raging in Europe and the Far East as America moved toward its destiny, documentary photography entered its golden age. This period saw the introduction of new picture magazines, innovative 35mm cameras, advanced Kodak films, and a revolutionary attitude in photojournalism that would define the medium for decades to come.
The collection features legendary work from Magnum's founding members and subsequent photographers, including Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson's World War II photography, Eve Arnold's Hollywood portraiture, and images by Elliott Erwitt, Marc Riboud, Gilles Peress, Alex Webb, Raymond Depardon, Harry Gruyaert, Dennis Stock, Burt Glinn, Bruno Barbey, and Jean Gaumy. These names have become synonymous with Magnum's history and represent the groundbreaking work that established the agency's reputation.
Magnum's early success was built on major scoops and exclusive stories that captured global attention. Robert Capa's uncensored look behind the Iron Curtain at the Soviet Union, undertaken with writer John Steinbeck and originally published in Ladies' Home Journal, exemplified this approach. According to John Morris, the Journal's picture editor who later became Magnum's executive director, Capa was paid $20,000 for this assignment while Steinbeck received $3,000, reflecting the high value placed on photojournalism during this era.
The agency's early portfolio included other groundbreaking assignments that would become historical documents. Capa and David "Chim" Seymour's work in Israel, Cartier-Bresson's landmark 1948 coverage of India during Gandhi's assassination, and his documentation of China in 1949 during the Communist takeover of the government all contributed to Magnum's growing reputation. Cartier-Bresson also covered Indonesia's independence and made multiple trips to the Soviet Union, establishing a pattern of comprehensive global coverage.
As Fred Ritchin, Dean of the School at the International Center of Photography, noted in the "In Our Time" book, the first new member Werner Bischof continued this tradition of groundbreaking photojournalism. Bischof reported from Japan, India, and Korea, while George Rodger maintained his relentless traveling schedule. The agency filed weekly stories and reportage from movie sets, including commissioned work capturing Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable behind the scenes of "The Misfits," alongside cultural commissions and collaborations with celebrated artists of the time.
Ritchin observed that photographers of that era enjoyed a significant advantage: "Large areas of the world had virtually never seen a photographer. One could choose to go almost anywhere one wanted, even without an assignment." This perspective aligned with George Rodger's reflection that in the early days, photographers "could take pictures of just about anything and the magazines were clamoring for it," though he noted "the mistake was in thinking that it would continue."
As the photojournalism industry evolved and more photographers joined Magnum's ranks, the agency's style and subject matter shifted toward more personal, authored perspectives while maintaining their commitment to creating photographs representative of their time. David Hurn photographed England and created a portrait of his native Wales, while Bruce Davidson documented teenage gangs in Brooklyn. Leonard Freed published his civil rights movement documentation in "Black and White America," Sergio Larrain captured seminal street life photographs in Chile, and Costa Manos undertook his "Greek Portfolio," a journey that combined heritage discovery with reportage.
Ritchin described this evolution as reflecting photographers' "interest in the fringes" accompanied by "a desire to decrease the photographer's estrangement from the nominally exotic, to begin to become more implicated in the lives of others." This shift represented a maturation of the medium from pure documentation to more nuanced storytelling.
The current revival of "In Our Time" makes available a collection of period prints from the original 1989 exhibition, accessible to collectors through both the Magnum Print Room gallery in London and the online Magnum Shop. All black and white prints are silver gelatin, while color prints use the dye transfer process. These are the original 1989 prints that were displayed at the Hayward Gallery as part of the original "In Our Time" exhibition, which became one of the most successful photographic exhibitions of recent decades and toured through fifteen countries worldwide.
The exhibition runs from September 21 through November 3, 2017, at the Magnum Print Room located at 63 Gee Street, London, continuing to celebrate Magnum's 70th anniversary while honoring the pivotal age that established photojournalism as both an art form and a crucial medium for documenting world history.
