Magnum Sells it’s Archive

http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/features/pdn-online/e3i8decb5ca03594f57edb6fec52a3fe9e6

Well, It’s been an interesting few weeks in the photo industry.

Magnum, perhaps one of the most famous photo agencies in the world, has sold it’s photo archive. Many journalists and photographers are shocked and upset at this news and more than one is claiming the sky is falling.

Now that the news has had time to sink for people and much of the noise has dropped off, I though it was time to look at this event with a clear and reasonable view.

Magnum, for those who may not be aware, was one of the first photography agencies set up by photographers for photographers. Magnum photographers have covered most , if not all, the major political events since there founding in 1947. In fact, Magnum was started because most photographers were not treated well by other agencies and often had trouble maintaining ownership of their work (sounds kinda familiar – the more things change, the more they stay the same). Magnum has included some of the most famous names in photography as founders and/or members. Henri Cartier Bresson is considered the founder of modern photojournalism. Robert Capa is considered the definitive war photographer. Magnum photographers have, in many ways, shown the modern world the power of photography as a journalistic tool.

…but they sold their archive….

The magnum archive contains some of the most famous photographs of the past century, from Robert Capa’s dying solder in the Spanish civil war to the tanks in Tianamen Square.  Magnum photographers have been there and came back with photographs.

….but they sold their archive….

Well, let’s look at that. Although Magnum was one of the first agencies to defend photographer’s copyrights and license them to clients instead of selling all rights, Magnum has also often been short of funds. Magnum is a co-operertive agency, with all members sharing in risks and rewards.  It also likes to focus on longer term and more difficult to cover subjects. There are plenty of shooters for the lighter subjects, but Magnum tries to cover the deeper elements of the human condition.

….but they sold their archive….

Yes, they did. For 30 million dollars, which is no small amount of money and they sold it to Dell. In fact, Dell purchased with the express intention of protecting it and making it more widely available then it had in the past.This was not a trival purchase, nor did Magnum consider it for just money

Dell invested the time and effort to transport this precious library in the safest means possible. It’s not like photographic archives can be just shipped by fedex somewhere. They also invested in the facilities to store it properly. This is from the days of film and most of the material is in the form of negatives, all of which can age and detriotate over time.

They also invested the time and money to have Magnum archivists come over and educate them in the notes on the material, the proper storage, and how this material should be treated.  This was an investment for reasons more than money.

So, the result is the Magnum archive is now in the hands of a group with deep pockets, so they can protect it as well or better than Magnum itself. It’s in the hands of a group who plans to use its deep pockets to make it more accessable, which is something Magnum probably could not have afforded in the same manner. Finally, it puts a healthy amount of money in the hands of Magnum so they can use to support more the great work they have delivered in the past.

I think this is a win-wion deal for everyone involved, including ourselves.

Interestingly enough it appear that this sale may only apply to Magnum’s US archive and the4 individual photographers are retaining their copyrights. More from the British Journal of Photographer here.

Magnum itself discusses the sale here.

I think Magnum has been very smart in this transaction. They have placed some of their most valuable work in a storage facility better than they could probably afford themselves. They will be available in a manner that does not increase their workload and it gives them some much needed funds to continue doing what they do best.