Magnum Digest

The Magnum Digest: October 25, 2019

Emin Ozmen’s ongoing coverage of the Turkey-Syria border, Thomas Dworzak’s Taliban portraits, Martin Parr’s early work, and more from Magnum photographers this week

Collection T. Dworzak Taliban portrait. Kandahar. Afghanistan. 2002. © Collection T. Dworzak | Magnum Photos

Thomas Dworzak’s Taliban portraits

In 2002 Thomas Dworzak was on assignment in Kandahar, Afghanistan, covering the US-led war on the Taliban. There he found a trove of portraits of Taliban fighters in a photo-studio’s back room, which he bought. The images became a book, Taliban, and will be going on show at the Barbican in 2020 as part of the show, Masculinities: Liberation through Photography. Ahead of the show, The Guardian has written about the work. You can see the feature here.

Collection T. Dworzak Taliban portrait. Kandahar. Afghanistan. 2002. © Collection T. Dworzak | Magnum Photos
Collection T. Dworzak Taliban portrait. Kandahar. Afghanistan. 2002. © Collection T. Dworzak | Magnum Photos

Susan Meiselas reflects on her pictures taken in Nicaragua

Susan Meiselas was one of five photographers who have worked in conflict zones who The Guardian spoke with for a feature on ‘the hardest images’ they had taken. Meiselas discusses her work made in Nicaragua in the late 70s, and speaks about the importance of context when looking at images of a graphic or violent nature.
You can read the feature here.
Susan Meiselas NICARAGUA. Matagalpa. Muchachos await the counterattack by the National Guard. © Susan Meiselas | Magnum Photos

Alec Soth discusses his new online education course

i-D spoke with Alec Soth about the new offering from Magnum Learn, a 19-lesson course – led by Soth himself – which deals with his own journey into photography, the difficulties of personal projects and professional practice, editing, sequencing, and much, much more. You can read the interview on i-D here, and you can read an extensive discussion between Soth and Aaron Schuman on the topic of failure, on Magnum, here.

More information on the course, Alec Soth: Photographic Storytelling, can be found here

Alec Soth USA. Vasa, Minnesota. 2002. Charles. © Alec Soth | Magnum Photos

Renewed fighting on the Turkey-Syria border

Emin Özmen has been working on the Turkey-Syria border, covering renewed hostilities in the region that have flared in the wake of the US forces’ withdrawal. You can see an edit of his images, many made in the town of Akçakale, on French newspaper Libération’s site, here.

Emin Özmen Turkish special forces looks at the building where mortar landed. At least 20 were injured during shelling in Akcakale as the fight continue between Turkish military and Kurdish PYD rebels, a day a (...)

Nanna Heitmann’s project, Hiding from Baba Yaga

Mangum 2019 nominee Nanna Heitmann’s personal project, Hiding from Baba Yaga, has been featured on the photography site, all-about Photo. The project saw Heitmann traveling along the Yenisei River in Siberia, photographing those who have settled in the remote region.

You can see the article here, and learn more about Heitmann’s practice here, on Magnum.

Nanna Heitmann Yuri in front of his self-built home. "I am a simple worker. Nothing keeps me in the city. All my friends are in the cemetery. Drugs or alcohol. Here the air is clear and not dirty from all the coa (...)

Martin Parr interviewed, and his Early Works reviewed

Martin Parr was interview by CNN Style this week, on the nature of Brexit Britain. You can watch the video here. The photographer’s latest book, Early Works, was also reviewed in Digital Camera World. You can read this review here, and read more about his early black and white work made in the British Isles on Magnum, here.

Martin Parr Surrey Bird Club. Surrey. England. GB. 1972. © Martin Parr | Magnum Photos

Magnum Manifesto exhibition on The Guardian

The Guardian have included the ongoing current Magnum Manifesto exhibition at Compton Verney Art Gallery in their ‘What to See This Week’ listings. The show, which they describe as amounting “to a visual history of modern times”, features work from a wide selection of Magnum photographers, spanning the collective’s history.

You can read the full listings here, and get more information about the show, here.

Jonas Bendiksen Villagers collecting scrap from a crashed spacecraft, surrounded by thousands of white butterflies. Environmentalists fear for the region's future due to the toxic rocket fuel. Altai Territory. Ru (...)

Magnum Streetwise on the BBC

The new  photobook, Magnum Streetwise, has been reviewed by the BBC. The title draws upon more than 70 years of Magnum photographers’ work made in the street:  “Often candid or quirky, poignant or humorous, their images provide a compelling view of street life throughout the world.”

You can read the review here, and read an excerpt from an essay by the book’s editor, Stephen McLaren, on Magnum, here.

 

 

 

Richard Kalvar Piazza della Rotonda. Rome. Italy. 1980. © Richard Kalvar | Magnum Photos
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