| The exhibition “Open for Business – Magnum photographers on commission” shows commissioned works spanning six decades by more than 50 members of Magnum Photos, offering insights into fascinating and lesser-known parts of their amassed portfolios.
For more than 70 years Magnum photographers have documented the world’s major events and hidden stories. Simultaneously, many of these same photographers have worked on assignments for fashion brands, governments, NGOs and industries. Although not recognised by a wider public as ‘Magnum’ work, the images do play a vital role in the Magnum story. The work also embodies the complex cultural position of photography, sitting as it does at the intersection of art, documentary and commerce. “Open for Business” takes a critical look at Magnum’s commissioned work from the 1950s to the latest assignments from 2019. It reveals interactions between commercial and independent production, highlights the way photographers shaped or changed visual languages of corporations and how they have played with assignments through their own free interpretation, resulting in surprising, ironic and humorous outcomes. |
