Magnum Degrees [Hardcover]

Michael Ignatieff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

A vision of the contemporary world since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, by the photographers of Magnum. The volume includes work from a range of photographers from Cartier-Bresson to the organization's newest recruits. The images are presented in a sequence of photo essays introduced by the photographers themselves. Many of the images were shot especially for the book. Magnum's 55 member and associate photographers participating in this book with new work include Eve Arnold, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Raymond Depardon, Elliott Erwitt, Leonard Freed, Josef Koudelka, Steve McCurry, Susan Meiselas, James Nachtwey, Martin Parr, Gueorgui Pinkhassov, Larry Towell and Ferdinando Scianna.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A 1947 lunch meeting of four friends proved to be one of the most auspicious dates in the history of photojournalism. It was around a lunch table that day that Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and David Seymour--each recently returned from covering World War II and its aftermath--formed the Magnum photo agency. Since then, Magnum photographers, with their singular knack for capturing history in an instant, have been responsible for creating many of the most iconic images of our world, in both war and peace. Magnum Degrees is a selection of agency photos that illustrates the range of subject matter and imagery the photographers have captured over the last half century.

The book, which overflows with photographs and includes only the briefest amount of text, is arranged thematically to effectively highlight the wide scope of images even within a narrow field. In "Middle East," Larry Towell captures boys playing in Gaza, while Micha Bar-Am trains his camera on a Jewish man, wrapped in a prayer shawl, fleeing a smoke bomb in Jerusalem. In "India," in the town of Benares, Ferdinando Scianna snaps photos of an excruciatingly thin man carrying his dead daughter and two nicely dressed young girls frolicking in the water. In "Religion," photographer Abbas trains his lens both on a man reenacting the Crucifixion in the Philippines and a woman being physically moved by the Holy Spirit in a rural Georgia church. As some of the themes--"Refugees," "Child Victims," "In the Camps," "War in Africa"--suggest, many of the images here are powerfully disturbing. Others, particularly those collected under the headings "Trees," "Fishing," and "Architecture," are lyrically beautiful. Still others, like Martin Parr's photographs of tourists on vacation the world over, are witty and comic. Taken together, the thousand or so photos here capture the often surprising, always complex nature of humanity and do justice to the agency founders' original intention to "document the world as it really is." --Jordana Moskowitz

From Library Journal

Founded in 1947 by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, and other eminent photographers, Magnum is an agency of elected photojournalists who independently photograph what they choose rather than what they are assigned. Arguably the best of their profession, their images can have a lasting impact on viewers, often combining a moment in history with carefully honed artistic detail. Compiled in conjunction with a worldwide tour, this hefty exhibition catalog contains over 600 color and black-and-white photographs by 69 Magnum photographers, including original contributions from Cartier-Bresson. Throughout, these images attempt to make sense of today's complex globalization while graphically portraying the suffering, devastation, and revolutions of the last decade, beginning with the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. More universal experiences are represented as well. Brief comments by the photographers summarize their perceptions, and historian Michael Ignatieff's introduction nicely frames the clear images--though the tiny orange print may annoy some readers. Recommended for general collections.
-Joan Levin, MLS, Chicago
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 536 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714838217
• ISBN-13: 978-0714838212
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.2 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,267,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great album, can be a great Christmas present, November 15, 2001

By 

Emilia Palaveeva "ema-in-seattle" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Magnum Degrees (Hardcover)

This collection of Magnum photographs is amazing. The pictures are broken into differnet thematic or geographic categories--war, environment, famine, etc. While there is very little text and almost no captions at all, the pictures are enough to speak to the subject. It contains both recent photographs and old ones, becoming something like an encyclopediea of photography.

It is a beautiful edition, worth having and will make an excellent, classy present not only for a photography enthusiast, but for everybody.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Degrees of excellence., April 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Magnum Degrees (Hardcover)

There are plenty of photograph anthologies available, but few of this caliber. Not only is the subject range impressive, the quality of the work is astounding. The section dealing with war provides a harrowing and insightful view into events of recent years, creating a sobering perspective of the late 20th century. An amazing book!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not my cup of tea, October 29, 2009

By 

Lisa (NYC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Magnum Degrees (Paperback)

Please note that the focus of this book is photojournalism; and that is only covers about a decade of time, around the 1990s.

I can't fault the book for this, and I should have read the independent editorial reviews more carefully, but I thought this was a collection of photographs that spanned Magnum's *entire* history especially as the Amazon review stated "Magnum Degrees is a selection of agency photos that illustrates the range of subject matter and imagery the photographers have captured over the last half century."

That said, I was struck by many of the photographs in the book - in fact many of them, due to their subject matter, are alarming. As a compilation of 500+ pages, however, it was overwhelming. I wonder what a more focused selection of pictures might have achieved.