Magnum Photos presents ‘Magnum 2020’, a book which brings together a turbulent year of world events through the eyes of this collective.
A yearbook of sorts, Magnum 2020 was born out of a year like no other; one which challenged the collective to find new ways of documenting experiences as counties locked down and everyone stayed home to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus. It was also a year of reckoning for the agency, reflecting on the structures of power and privilege that have existed in the world for generations and understanding how they can be challenged and ultimately undone.
“Was [2020] the end of something? The start of something else? Or merely a blip in an increasingly chaotic and fast-changing world?” asks Magnum President, Olivia Arthur, in the foreword. The jury is still out. But this book commits the year to paper and offers a means for us to try and make sense of it.