Paris Magnum

Hotel de Ville // Place de l'Hôtel de ville 75004

End date: March 28th

Decade by decade, Paris Magnum takes us on a visual tour of the most defining times in the capital’s recent history.

Launched in 1947, Magnum Photos became one of the first photographic cooperatives in which individual photographers wholly owned their works.

Its current exhibition mirrors this spirit of independence as it highlights the actors at the helm of revolution in Paris.

The first series in a long stretch of photos takes you through a battered industrial vision of Paris in the 30s. Black and white images of trodden workers and factory strikes bring to mind the hardships of the first Industrial Revolution.

As the exhibit winds on, the content shifts to the chaos of WWII and the poverty that followed. Swells of smoke, military medics and gun-toting resisters dot the ensuing photos before giving way to more joyful images of liberation.

Another section shows Paris coming alive in a time of vibrant art and loaded politics. From miniskirts to manifestations, these images show a city bursting with change and upheaval, most notably marked by the May 1968 student uprisings.

Perhaps most emblematic of Paris’ intellectual and adversarial legacy is the portion of the exhibition dedicated to the years between 1970 and 1989.

The era’s philosophical and political landscapes contrast as images of key figures like Chirac, Foucault and Sartre intersect those of feminist marches and factory addresses.

After guiding the viewer through 80 years of cultural evolution in Paris, the exhibition at last turns its focus to the threatened profession of photojournalism.

Put on the ropes by the rise of mass media and public consumption, today’s photojournalists must fight to offer something the viewer can’t readily grasp on his or her own.

With its cooperative membership and enduring body of work, Magnum Photos proves that much like its subjects, its photographers are challenging the status quo.

#sara #art #photography #4eme