Magnum has launched its first NFT collection

As part of its 75th anniversary celebrations this year, Magnum Photos is launching its first collection of NFTs. The agency will start with three selections and will slowly release a total of 75 images over the course of the year.

The agency says it believes turning photographs into NFTs “generates authenticity and value on the internet, allowing photographers to produce and sell their work online as they would in the real world.” It claims that buyers get a unique way to actually own an original artwork or photograph online as opposed to buying or downloading a copy.

“Just as they would offline, these works of art increase (or decrease) in value over time, providing the opportunity to build collections, all online,” says Magnum.

This launch is the first time collectors (which it refers to as the Web3 community) will be able to own images from the Magnuma archive, which it says includes some of the most renowned photographers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Magnum says each selection is curated with leading figures in photography from around the world. Each is minted as a 1/1 edition.

The Magnum 75 curation follows on from an existing partnership between Obscura and Magnum, where eight photographers were commissioned to produce exclusive NFT images.

The first selection was curated by Alejandro Cartagena, photographer and co-founder of Obscura.io, which is described as a community of artists, collectors, curators and builders with a mission to empower photographers in the Web3 ecosystem.

The first three images of the collection became available on 28 June and bidding closes by 30 June. The three photos are a photo of Danish actress Anna Karina from 1966 by Bruno Barbey, a photo of Nikos Economopoulos taken in Trinidad, Cuba in 2015, and a photo of Ernest Cole taken in South Africa in 1960 titled “Piet falls asleep with a Bible in the face.”

“The NFT world is new, exciting and in some ways terrifying for an organization that has been around for 75 years. As with any development in the photographic landscape, we are keen to learn, experiment and understand what the prospects are for blockchain technology and how it can be integrated into the way we share work, says Olivia Arthur, photographer and president of Magnum.

“I believe that these tools will become extremely important to the wider photography industry and I am very pleased to be a part of this first official step into the NFT world by Magnum.”

The entire Magnum 75 NFT collection can be perused on the Foundation, but as mentioned, active bidding on items from the collection will slowly become available throughout the rest of the year.

Photo credit: All images are credited individually and delivered via Magnum.