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Bruno Barbey: 1941 – 2020

Magnum member Bruno Barbey died on November 9, 2020

Bruno Barbey

Bruno Barbey Burgan burning oil fields. U.S. Marines. The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq took place on August 2nd 1990. It was followed by the Allied intervention under operation Desert Storm. The Allies finally li (...)
Bruno Barbey A boy plays in the Riviere of Galets. Reunion. 1991. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Meknes. Moulay Ismael Mausoleum (Muslim shrine). Morocco. 1985. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Sicily region. Town of Palermo. Italy. 1963. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Throne day (March 3rd) celebrations. Dignitaries awaiting the King. Rabat. Royal Palace. Morocco. 1992. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Dane actress Anna Karina. Paris. France. 1966. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Homeless seeks shelter on a sidewalk. Mumbai. India. 1980. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Children and a beggar. Naples. Italy. 1962. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey In the editorial office of the weekly newspaper Solidarnosc. Cracow. Poland. 1981. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Moulay Idriss. Courtyard of the Zaouiya. Fez. Morocco. 1983. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey The "Green March". Demonstrators cross the border, south of Tarfaya. Following the Hague's World Court "consultive opinion" that the Spanish Sahara should be free of Spanish colonial rule, King HAS (...)
Bruno Barbey Alley near the sanctuary of Moulay Idriss. Fez. Morocco. 1984. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey In the house of Fela Ransome Anikulap Kuti, famous Nigerian afro singer. Lagos. Nigeria. 1977. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Near Amman. The leader of the Palestinian EL FATAH Movement, Yasser ARAFAT, during a Press Conference on the Palestinian problem. Jordan. 1970. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Walls painted by Gino Severini at the Castle of Motefugoni. Tuscany. Italy. 1984. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Elridge Cleaver, American leader of the Black Panthers, a militant and revolutionary Black organization in the USA with his wife, Kathleen (on his left). Algiers. Algeria. Pan-African Festival. 1969. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Huxingting tea house in the gardens of Yu Yuan. Shanghai. China. 1980. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey US bombardment, after the battle of An Loc. South Vietnam. 1972. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Carapou (mackerel) fish dry in the sun. Estremadura region. Nazare. Portugal. 1979. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Attack on a wine cellar. Corsica. France. 1976. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Sorbonne university. Paris. France. 1968. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey 7th Arab Summit meeting. King of Saudi Arabia, Faysal Ist Ibn Al-Aziz. Rabat. Morocco. 1974. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Night between the 10th and the 11th of May 1968. Boulevard St. Michel. Explosion of teargas. Paris. France. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey The birthday of Ganesh Chaturthi, the elephant headed God who was the son of Shiva and Parvati, is one of the most popular annual religious festivals of Bombay. It takes place at the end of the Mon (...)
Bruno Barbey Black Panthers - militant revolutionary Black US organization. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey The French fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurant. Paris. France. 1971. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Village of Maadid, near Erfoud. Morocco. 2002. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey A poster of President Nasser dominates the festivities for the opening of the dam. Egypt 1971. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Rue Saint Michel / Rue de Lyon, near the Bastille. Barricade built out of movie posters. France. May 24th 1968. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey A hunter with his farmer's specially trained pig sniffing for truffle mushrooms, which grow below the soil. Dordogne region. France. 1984. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Tuscany region. Town of Florence. Italy. 1964. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey FRANCE. Paris. 6th arrondissement. Rue des Saints-Peres. June 12th 1968. Around 6 am. In front of the School of Medecine, Mustapha SAHA, co-founder of the March 22nd movement, sitting on a barrica (...)
Bruno Barbey Women resting along the ramparts. Essaouira. Morocco. 1987. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey March in support of French President Charles De Gaulle. Paris. 8th arrondissement. Avenue des Champs-Elysées. France. May 1968. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Bahia state. Salvador. Brazil. 2007. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Jean-Paul Sartre talking in front of the Renault Factory. Ile-de-France region. Hauts-de-Seine department. Town of Boulogne-Billancourt. France. 1970. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Czestochowa is a town on the river Warta, dating to the 13th century, which has gained is fame with the miraculous picture of "Our Lady of Czestochowa", the Black Madona, who is said to have saved (...)
Bruno Barbey On the Bosphorus Bridge, Woman passing on the bridge during the Eurasia Marathon. Istanbul. Turkey. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Crowds at religious pilgrimage during the Holy Week. Kalwaria Zebrzydowska village. Poland. 1981. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey emonstration against the construction of the Narita Airport and the war of Vietnam. Tokyo. Japan. 1971. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey 6th arrondissement. Boulevard Saint Germain. Students hurling projectiles against the police. Paris. France. May 6th 1968. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
Bruno Barbey Campania region. Town of Naples. Italy. 1963. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos

Bruno Barbey began his relationship with Magnum Photos in 1964. He served as Magnum vice president for Europe in 1978/1979 and as President of Magnum International from 1992 to 1995. Barbey worked in all five continents and covered conflicts in Nigeria, Vietnam, the Middle East, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Kuwait. His work has appeared in the world’s major publication, and over 30 books of his work have been published to date.­­­­

Barbey received numerous awards for his work, including the French National Order of Merit. His photographs are exhibited worldwide, and feature in numerous museum collections.

Here, we share a statement from Magnum Photos president Olivia Arthur, and a number of his colleagues.

“I am saddened to announce the unexpected death of Bruno Barbey, who has been an important member of the Magnum family for over 50 years. A former President and active member of the community, he was passionate about photography and never stopped taking pictures. His photographs continue to be celebrated in numerous exhibitions and books and his work has earned him a place in the distinguished Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Remembered by his colleagues as a sophisticated and suave man, he was also generous with his time and thoughtful about the situations that he spent time covering, which ranged from global wars to the streets of Morocco, the country of his birth.

His pictures are full of life and his legacy will live on in them. He will be greatly missed.”

– Olivia Arthur, president, Magnum Photos

“Bruno was one of the pillars of the second generation of Magnum photographers. Of the second generation… but also of those that followed. Totally curious about the world, he knew how to calmly and finely analyze situations.

Bruno is one of those quite rare people who – when I am in certain difficult situations or I have doubts –  I wonder about, and think, “What would Bruno have done?”

Jean Gaumy

“A great photographer, a great human being. A terrible loss.”

Emin Ozmen

“A long-time friend. A lovely man. An elegant photographer, as good as they get.”

David Hurn

“We are losing a loyal, most faithful friend, always looking for the news of the children, like an eternal child that he was and that he remains, curious about everything. Thank you Bruno for your kindness and your talent.”

Raymond Depardon

“Sadness, grief, amazement.
The Magnum sky darkened deeply, all of a sudden, in the space of a fatal moment. Bruno departed. Going farther away, and for longer.
The brutal loss of a ‘friend’, as Henri used to call us.
A multitude of memories jostling at the gate of our many shared times.
The very first one was almost 50 years ago, when with Henri, Martine and Bruno I sat on a ladder set up against a tree to photograph the funeral of De Gaulle, who had died the same day, November 9. And, a little later – it was last Sunday – he called me, and we talked a good while together.
His presence, his availability, his attachment to Magnum and its history was constant and unfailing. He needed to be loved among us.
Magnum’s life will continue of course, but without him it will not be the same.”

Guy le Querrec

“Extremly sad and sudden, we have lost a gentleman photographer. Sensitive and caring to the core, a great Magnum pillar! Bruno’s instinctive and powerful images arose from his heart – and naturally touched every heart – a torchlight that will illuminate many searching minds lost in trendy photography.

Only last October Bruno and Carolyn took me and my wife Meeta around to show me the gallery, at that time called Gallery Delpire, where I had my first exhibition in 1972 – and I marvelled… ‘Look at this man how he can connect with points of significance in other people’s lives…’ 

A loss of warmth and spiritual energy… He had the capacity to hold together many loose and lost ends!”

Raghu Rai

“Bruno will be remembered as one of Magnum’s “Greats”, a superb eye, combined with a warmth of vision. For me, a true friend, the passing of an era.”

Ian Berry

Bruno Barbey French photographer, Bruno Barbey. 1967. © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
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