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
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.
Susan Meiselas reflects on her pictures taken in Nicaragua
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
