founded 1947 founder robert capa david chim seymour henri cartier bresson george rodger william vandivert rita vandivert maria eisner headquarters new york city paris london tokyo area served worldwide products photojournalism stock photography website magnumphotos.com magnum photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer members with offices in new york city paris london and tokyo . according to co founder henri cartier bresson magnum is a community of thought a shared human quality a curiosity about what is going on in the world a respect for what is going on and a desire to transcribe it visually . 1 contents 1 founding of agency 2 elections of new members 3 photographic collection 4 graduate photographers award 5 member list 6 books 7 see also 8 references 9 external links founding of agency edit robert capa david chim seymour henri cartier bresson george rodger and william vandivert all photographers rita vandivert and maria eisner were the founding members of magnum in paris in 1947 based on an idea of capa s. seymour cartier bresson and rodger were all absent from the meeting at which it was founded . 2 in response to a letter telling him that he was a member rodger wrote that magnum seemed a good idea but it all sounded too halcyon to be true when capa had told him of it and i rather dismissed the whole thing from my mind . 3 rita vandivert was the first president and head of the new york office ; maria eisner the head of the paris office . 4 the plan was for rodger to cover africa and the middle east ; cartier bresson to cover south and east asia ; seymour and william vandivert to cover europe and the united states respectively ; and capa to be free to follow his curiosity and events . 4 magnum is one of the first photographic cooperatives owned and administered entirely by members . the staff serve a support role for the photographers who retain all copyrights to their own work . the magnum cooperative has included photojournalists from across the world who have covered many historical events of the 20th century . the cooperative s archive includes photographs depicting family life drugs religion war poverty famine crime government and celebrities . magnum in motion is the multimedia offshoot of magnum photos and is based in new york city . although it has been asserted that the name magnum was chosen because the founding members always drank a bottle of champagne during the first meetings 5 russell miller writes it was ... presumably agreed by those present at the first meeting that magnum was a fine new name for such a bold new venture indicative as it was of greatness in its literal latin translation toughness in its gun connotation and celebration in its champagne mode . 6 boy destroying piano at pant y waen south wales by philip jones griffiths 1961 elections of new members edit in the early years of magnum membership had generally come about by the personal invitation of robert capa . however in 1955 a three stage membership system was set up that continues to this day 7 and is described below . until 1953 there were also a large number of stringers who used magnum but were not members . 8 magnum s photographers meet once a year during the last weekend in june in new york paris or london to discuss the cooperative s business . one day of the meeting is reserved to review potential new members portfolios and vote on admitting individuals . an approved applicant is invited to become a nominee member of magnum a category of membership that provides a chance for members and the individual to get to know each other but that includes no binding commitments on either side . after two years of nominee membership a photographer may present another portfolio if wanting to apply for associate membership . if successful the photographer is bound by the rules of the agency and enjoys its facilities and worldwide representation . the difference between an associate member and a full member is that an associate is not a director of the company and does not have voting rights in the corporate decision making . after two more years an associate wanting to be considered for full membership presents another portfolio of work for consideration by the members . once elected as a full member the individual is a member of magnum for life or for as long as the photographer chooses . no member photographer of magnum has ever been asked to leave . citation needed photographic collection edit in february 2010 magnum announced that michael dell s venture capital firm msd capital had acquired a collection of nearly 200 000 original press prints of images taken by magnum photographers . it had formed a partnership with the harry ransom center at the university of texas at austin to preserve catalog and make photographs available to the general public . 9 10 11 in september 2013 it was announced msd capital donated the collection to the ransom center . 12 a preliminary inventory is available for researchers who wish to use the collection . 13 graduate photographers award edit the graduate photographers award was established in 2015 . 14 member list edit name nationality status active years note abbas attar iran active full member 1981 15 member from 1985 15 christopher anderson united states active full member 2005 nominee from 2005 ; full member from 2010 16 ansel adams united states deceased nonmember correspondent 1956 17 eve arnold united states deceased 1951 associate member from 1951 ; 18 member from 1957 19 first female member . olivia arthur united kingdom active full member 2008 nominee from 2008 20 micha bar am israel active correspondent 1968 correspondent from 1968 21 bruno barbey morocco active full member 1964 22 member from 1968 . 22 jonas bendiksen norway active full member 2004 nominee from 2004 ; member from 2008 23 ian berry united kingdom active full member 1967 17 member from 1962 . 24 werner bischof switzerland deceased 1948 1954 associate member from 1948 full member from 1949 25 454 26 matt black united states active nominee 2015 27 brian brake new zealand withdrawn 1957 1966 17 deceased michael christopher brown united states active nominee 2013 ren burri switzerland deceased 1955 17 2014 associate member from 1955 ; member from 1959 28 cornell capa hungary united states deceased 1954 2008 member from 1954 ; 29 brother of robert robert capa hungary united states deceased 1947 1954 founding member henri cartier bresson france deceased 1947 2004 founding member ; contributor from 1966 17 chien chi chang taiwan active full member 1995 30 member from 2001 30 antoine d agata france active full member 2004 31 nominee from 2004 ; member from 2008 . 31 bruce davidson united states active full member 1956 32 member from 1959 32 carl de keyzer belgium active full member 1990 33 member from 1994 33 luc delahaye france withdrawn 1994 2004 raymond depardon france active full member 1978 associate member from 1978 ; member from 1979 34 bieke depoorter belgium active full member 2012 35 carolyn drake united states active nominee 2015 27 thomas dworzak germany active full member 2004 nominee from 2000 ; member from 2004 36 nikos economopoulos greece active full member 1990 member from 1994 37 elliott erwitt france united states active full member 1953 38 member from 1954 38 martine franck belgium deceased 1980 2012 39 member from 1983 39 stuart franklin united kingdom active full member 1985 40 member from 1990 . 40 leonard freed united states deceased 1956 41 2006 member from 1972 41 paul fusco united states active full member 1974 member from 1974 cristina garc a rodero spain active full member 2005 42 member from 2009 42 jean gaumy france active full member 1977 43 member from 1986 43 bruce gilden united states active full member 1998 44 member from 2002 44 burt glinn united states deceased 1951 45 2008 associate member from 1951 ; 18 member from 1954 45 mark godfrey united states withdrawn 1974 1981 17 jim goldberg united states active full member 2002 46 member from 2006 46 philip jones griffiths united kingdom deceased 1966 2008 associate member from 1966 ; member from 1971 47 harry gruyaert belgium active full member 1981 48 member from 1986 48 ara g ler turkey withdrawn ernst haas austria deceased 1950 17 1986 contributor from 1966 17 philippe halsman russia latvia united states deceased 1951 49 contributing member from 1956 49 hiroshi hamaya japan deceased 1960 1999 associate member from 1960 50 charles harbutt united states withdrawn 1964 1981 17 erich hartmann germany united states deceased 1951 17 51 1999 member from 1952 51 david alan harvey united states active full member 1993 17 52 member from 1997 52 bob henriques united states 1957 1961 circa tim hetherington united kingdom deceased 2011 posthumous acceptance abigail heyman united states deceased 1970s ; thomas hoepker germany active full member 1964 53 member from 1989 53 david hurn united kingdom active full member 1965 54 associate member from 1965 ; 55 member from 1967 54 richard kalvar united states active full member 1975 17 associate member from 1975 ; member from 1977 . 56 josef koudelka czech republic active full member 1971 17 associate member from 1971 ; member from 1974 . 57 kent klich sweden withdrawn 1998 2002 hiroji kubota japan active full member 1971 associate member from 1971 ; 58 member from 1989 . 59 dorothea lange united states deceased nonmember correspondent 1956 17 sergio larra n chile deceased 1959 2012 associate member from 1959 ; member from 1961 ; contributor from 1970 60 russell lee united states deceased nonmember correspondent 1956 17 guy le querrec france active full member 1976 61 member from 1977 . 61 erich lessing austria active full member 1950 62 member from 1955 ; 63 later contributor 62 herbert list germany deceased contributor 1951 1975 64 paul lowe united kingdom withdrawn danny lyon united states withdrawn 1966 1968 17 alex majoli italy active full member 1996 65 member from 2001 . 65 constantine manos united states active full member 1963 17 66 member from 1965 . 66 mary ellen mark united states deceased 1977 1981 17 diana markosian armenia active nominee 2016 nominee member from 2016 67 peter marlow united kingdom deceased 1952 2016 member from 1986 68 to his death in 2016 . fred mayer switzerland withdrawn 1967 69 2009 don mccullin united kingdom withdrawn 1968 1969 17 steve mccurry united states active full member 1986 member from 1986 . 70 susan meiselas united states active full member 1976 71 member from 1980 . 71 lorenzo meloni italy active nominee 2015 27 wayne f. miller united states deceased nonmember correspondent 1956 17 1958 ; member 1958 17 2013 member from 1958 later a contributor . 72 inge morath austria deceased 1953 73 2002 member from 1955 . 73 richard mosse ireland withdrawn 2015 27 james nachtwey united states withdrawn 1986 2001 dominic nahr switzerland withdrawn 2010 2015 trent parke australia active full member 2002 74 member from 2007 . 74 suzy parker united states deceased according to john g. morris capa showed model suzy parker how to take pictures and for a while she was listed as a magnum photographer . 75 martin parr united kingdom active full member 1988 76 member from 1994 . 76 paolo pellegrin italy active full member 2001 77 nominee from 2001 ; member from 2005 . 77 gilles peress france active contributor 1970 78 as of 2010 a contributor . 78 max pinckers belgium active nominee 2015 27 gueorgui pinkhassov russia active full member 1986 79 member from 1994 . 79 mark power united kingdom active full member 2002 80 member from 2007 . 80 raghu rai india active correspondent 1977 eli reed united states active full member