Odyssey: Exploring the Theme
Journey through land, sea, history and vivid color in the Square Print Sale, in partnership with The Photographers' Gallery, London
What does the word Odyssey mean to you? With each image selected by the photographer themselves in response to the theme, here we explore journeys through land, sea, history and vivid color.
Below, we explore several of the recurring themes that appear in the selection of 119 images. Can you find your own?
Browse the full selection here. Sale opens on Monday, March 23.
Water
Reflections on the journeys we undertake at sea and our profound connection to water.
The Journey of Love
I cross a bridge in Tokyo and look down.
No, it can’t be real. Two people in a small boat, floating in the middle of somewhere or nowhere.
They’re together, but looking away.
Close enough to touch, yet each held in their own thoughts.
Is this what love can look like?
Not lost, but not anchored either.
Maybe this is a kind of intimacy that lets silence exist between two people, reminding us that love doesn’t always move in one direction.
— Jacob Aue Sobol
Jacob Aue Sobol: Tokyo, Japan, 2007.
Roadtrips
The spirit of the open road, and the encounters we experience along the way.
Babylon by Van
“This new voice was coming out of Jamaica, Bob Marley, and people were latching on to it.
“I had read that he was coming over to do his first tour of England. So I bunked off school, like a fan, just waiting for him outside of the Speakeasy club in central London. Eventually, he and The Wailers came out, and I walked up to him and said, ‘Can I take your picture?’
“Bob really took to me and asked me if I’d like to come along with them on tour.
“So the next morning, I packed my school sports bag and went to the hotel. In those days, there was no tour bus, only a transit van. So there is a very famous picture where he is looking back, and he is saying, ‘Are you ready Dennis?’ Click.”
— Dennis Morris
Dennis Morris: London, England, UK, 1973.
Journey Through History
Historical moments, figureheads and Magnum history through the archive.
Kitten
“With eyes wide open, the kitten looks directly at the viewer — its gaze a mix of surprise and unease, as if puzzled by this unfamiliar vantage point from above. Beneath the innocence of that look lies a trace of fear about what might come next. To me, this expression mirrors Herbert List’s own emotional state at the time: he had just fled Germany as a homosexual man of Jewish heritage.”
— Peer Olaf Richter, Herbert List Estate
Herbert List: Liguria, Italy, 1936.
Around the World in Color
Where color is central to the experience, the quest, and the adventure.
These images, and many more, are all available to purchase as time-limited signed or estate-stamped 6×6″ prints from Monday, March 23 to Sunday, March 29.
