Magnum Photos

The Magnum group is an international photographic cooperative. Founded by Heni Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, David Seymore and George Rodger, there are currently 82 active members of the group. Each photograph is licenced and owned by its photographer, building up to its library of over 500.00 images. As I decided I wanted my exhibition to be based on black and white documentary photography I thought the Magnum photos would be the best starting point, the huge diversity of photographs covers people, places, events, location and a lot of black and white. I also liked the way when the group started they wanted to cover as much of the globe as possible, so they split: Rodger would cover Africa and the Middle East, Cartier-Bresson would cover the area east of that, Seymour and Vandivert would alternatively cover Europe and the United States, and Capa would travel freely. I want to incorporate this idea into my exhibition, using different photographers to represent and document different parts of the world. This could also be an idea on how to display the photographs, geographically taking the audience round the exhibition.

Brief

In Semester 2 (part B) of the Research Project Unit there is an increasing emphasis on secondary research and the application of knowledge in the making of a ‘Virtual Exhibition Project’. This project allows students to exercise in theory the issues involved in curating an exhibition and prepares them for the group exhibition project in year 2. The project begins with a series of lectures considering issues of curation, exhibition and ideologies of the gallery. Examples of catalogues from selected exhibitions are analysed along with press releases and reviews. Students then develop ideas for their own thematic ‘virtual’ exhibition in the context of regular tutorials, selecting work from ten different artists (including themselves) in order to make a coherent show. In conclusion students present their virtual exhibition in the form of a maquette (virtual or physical), supported by a range of writing including selected artists’ biographies, a press release and an evaluation.