The Magnum Digest: January 3, 2020
Josef Koudelka on photographing the Holy Land, Lindokuhle Sobekwa's project tracing his lost sister, Sohrab Hura's images of Kashmir, and more from Magnum this week
Josef Koudelka on The Guardian and Polka Magazine
Josef Koudelka has been interviewed by The Guardian about the DVD release of the documentary, Koudelka: Shooting Holy Land. First shown in 2015, the documentary explores the photographer’s journeys through Gaza and the West Bank over four years. You can read The Guardian piece here.You can also read Aaron Schuman’s article on the film, on Magnum, here.
Polka Magazine have shared a video interview between Koudelka and the documentary’s director Gilad Baram – one of the bonus features from the film’s DVD release. Watch the video and read a conversation with Baram, in French, here.
Lindokuhle Sobekwa’s new project, on Aperture
Aperture has published a feature on Lindokuhle Sobekwa’s project, I carry Her photo with Me, in which he traces the journey of his sister Ziyanda who disappeared for twelve years. A reluctant subject of portraits, Ziyanda’s story is told through a scrapbook of photographs of individuals and settings which had played a part in her life. Read the blog post here.
You can learn more about Sobekwa’s work on the Magnum site, here.
Moises Saman’s work included in New York Times‘ Decade in Pictures
Moises Saman’s photograph of Afghan soldiers evacuating a wounded comrade to a US Army outpost, has been selected as one of the New York Times’ pictures of the decade. Photo editors at the Times distill their annual selections from hundreds of thousands of images, and 2019’s round-up collects the highlights from the last ten years. “We want it to be definitive,” international photo editor David Furst said of the collection of images.
See the rundown here.
Sohrab Hura’s Kashmir work on The Caravan
The Caravan has published an essay about the long-running political dispute over Kashmir, which also explores Sohrab Hura’s images taken from his ongoing series made in the region. Currently under heavy military occupation by the Indian government after having its semi-autonomous status revoked in August 2019, Kashmir has recently seen a surge in political detentions as well as a 150-day shutdown of internet and telephone communications. Read The Caravan’s essay and see Hura’s images here.
Magnum photographers in Digital Camera World’s best books of 2019
Three Magnum photobooks have been listed in Digital Camera World’s best books of the year.
Early Works, “a must for any fans of [Martin] Parr’s ouvre”, Henri Cartier-Bresson: China 1948-1949, 1958, a “veritable treasure trove”, and the “hugely impressive” Magnum Streetwise all make the cut. Read the full list here.
Dennis Stock’s Planet of the Apes on The Daily Mail
The Daily Mail have published Dennis Stock’s images taken on the set of the 1968 cult-classic, Planet of the Apes. Stock captured absurd scenes as actors in full ape costume rehearsed lines, wandered local towns and cities, and killed time with cast-mates on set. Read Magnum’s feature on the images here, and see them on The Daily Mail here.
Martin Parr for The Guardian’s ‘big picture’
The Guardian chose Martin Parr’s image from a pub in Chew Stoke, England, for the New Years’ Eve instalment of its regular ‘big picture’ feature. Speaking to the newspaper about the evolving nature of ‘Englishness’ over the years, Parr said that he felt that on New Years Eve, “everything tends to become more itself”. See the piece here.
