Magnum Digest

The Magnum Digest: January 24, 2020

Sohrab Hura's The Coast reviewed, Chien-Chi Chang on surveillance in Hong Kong, Lindokuhle Sobekwa in Dazed, plus your last chance to apply to join Magnum

Sohrab Hura From 'The Coast'. © Sohrab Hura | Magnum Photos

Sohrab Hura’s The Coast on American Suburb X

American Suburb X has reviewed Sohrab Hura’s award-winning project, The Coast, which explores absurdity and violence in his home country of India, and the limitations of photographic representation. “Hura transposes this violence into a parable which precedes a series of photographs visualising the theatre of power, desire and nocturnal life,” writes the website’s Sunil Shah.

Read the piece here. Read more about The Coast, on Magnum, here.

Sohrab Hura Diptych of images from The Coast © Sohrab Hura | Magnum Photos

Lindokuhle Sobekwa profiled on Dazed

Dazed has profiled Magnum nominee Lindokuhle Sobekwa and featured an introduction to the photographer’s best-known series, Nyaope, which follows a community of young men addicted to a drug of the same name living in the photographer’s hometown of Thozoka, near Johannesburg, South Africa.

Read the piece here. Take an expanded look at the project on Magnum’s site here.

Lindokuhle Sobekwa China's high on Nyaope. Nyaope is South Africa's "poor man's heroin". It is highly addictive and can contain anything from detergent, rat poison or crushed anti-retroviral medications. The drug has (...)
Lindokuhle Sobekwa A playful moment. Nyaope is South Africa's "poor man's heroin". It is highly addictive and can contain anything from detergent, rat poison or crushed anti-retroviral medications. The drug has gaine (...)

Chien-Chi Chang’s Hong Kong protest images in California Sunday

Chien-Chi Chang worked documenting the ongoing demonstrations in Hong Kong, which make a range of demands for democratic freedoms from the centralized Chinese government. A piece in California Sunday, examining the civic impact of facial recognition technology through a variety of perspectives, has featured Chang’s photographic study of surveillance cameras in Hong Kong which have been tampered with by protestors in varying ways. See the piece here.

Chien-Chi Chang Vandalized or newly-replaced surveillance cameras at MTR (Subway). Hong Kong. China. 2019. © Chien-Chi Chang | Magnum Photos
Chien-Chi Chang Vandalized or newly-replaced surveillance cameras at MTR (Subway). Hong Kong. China. 2019. © Chien-Chi Chang | Magnum Photos

Chien-Chi Chang in Black + White Photography

Chien-Chi Chang also is also featured in Black + White Photography magazine. Elizabeth Roberts unpacks one Magnum image in detail in her monthly column, ‘Magnum Opus’. This installment explored Chang’s 1998 New York City fire escape image. “If we look closely we start to see visual connections: the stripes on the pillowcase echo those of the zebra crossing; the railings of the fire escape run parallel to the pavement below; the people on the street appear to be walking towards the immigrants, as though to enter the front door several floors down. The connections seem important…” she writes.

Chien-Chi Chang Immigrants sleeping on a fire escape to avoid summer heat. New York City. USA. 1998. © Chien-Chi Chang | Magnum Photos

Ferdinando Scianna’s work on The Guardian

The Guardian has this week featured a selection of Ferdinando Scianna’s images from the ‘60s onwards, depicting fashion and cultures from around the world. The piece comes in time for the photographer’s exhibition at Tre Oci in Venice. See the images here.

Ferdinando Scianna Fashion show. Paris. France. 1989. © Ferdinando Scianna | Magnum Photos

David Chim Seymour in UNESCO

UNESCO’s journal, Courier, featured a previously-unpublished selection of David “Chim” Seymour’s photographs from his 1950 series exploring illiteracy in Italy. The NGO sent the Magnum co-founder on assignment to document social conditions in the south of the country in the aftermath of fascism.

Read more about the piece here.

David Seymour The battle against illiteracy. Peasant during a writing class. Town of Rogiano Gravina. Calabria. Italy. 1950. © David Seymour | Magnum Photos

Magnum submissions close next week!

It’s your last chance send us your portfolio in order to be considered for Magnum membership. Magnum Photos’ open call invites all practising image-makers to submit their work for consideration by Magnum’s member-photographers, who convene yearly at the AGM to vote in new nominee members. Visit this page for more information on how to apply – applications will close on January 31.

Jean Gaumy New York. Meeting of the Magnum photographers. From left to right: Martine Franck, Chris Steele-Perkins, Peter Marlow, Alex Webb, Richard Kalvar, Susan Meiselas. © Jean Gaumy | Magnum Photos
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