In June this year, Magnum Photos launched its first NFT collection (opens in a new tab) as part of the agency’s 75th anniversary celebrations. The collection is divided into three parts, each of which includes 75 images from the agency’s historical archive, from the 1940s to the present day.
For the first part of the collection, released in June and curated by Obscura founder Alejandro Cartagena, 55 NFTs were sold to a total of 28 collectors, including the first NFTs of Steve McCurry, Martin Parr and Paolo Pellegrin.
• What are NFTs – and can photographers make money selling them?
The second of the series has now been dropped, as it consists of another 75 NFTs from the Magnum archive and is available on the Foundation NFT platform (opens in a new tab). Six drops will take place over two weeks until December 13th and bidding for each NFT will start at a minimum of 1ETH.
The 75 images were curated in dialogue with Azu Nwagbogu, founder and director of the African Artists’ Foundation. The selection spans 75 years of photographic history, and draws on the work of Magnum’s very first photographers such as George Rodger and Werner Bischof, to modern icons such as Cristina de Middel and Alec Soth.
Nwagbogu commented on this second drop:
“In 1952, founding Magnum member Henri Cartier-Bresson published the book Pictures à la Sauvette. Since then, perhaps the most universal claim that one would associate with Magnum Photos is the idea that an iconic image is achieved by capturing the ‘decisive moment. Yet the vast Magnum archive reveals so much about the history of the modern world and its unresolved global problems of ecology, humanity and technology, and none of these problems are necessarily told through the idea of the ‘decisive moment.
Each image from this second collection is charged with emotion, intent, foreshadowing and meaning, composed with a sense of anticipation that offers multiple scenarios and possibilities about past events. It is not revisionist history, but rather invites the collector and viewers to perhaps take a closer look at the image again.”
Cristina de Middel, president of Magnum Photos, adds:
“With one foot in the past and another in the future, Magnum Photos performs a balanced dance that combines strengthening our archive and supporting new photographic creation. With that in mind, we welcomed the new possibilities that blockchain brings. Earlier this year, we opened our introducing to the world of NFT not only new ways of generating work and interacting with audiences and collectors, but also left the door open for external but relevant voices in the industry to project their vision onto our archive with great success.
There’s no doubt that NFTs are a huge thing in the photographic community, and whether you love them or loathe them, NFTS are here to stay, with the likes of Magnum Photos offering images from the archives and ways to display NFTs yours on digital. screens – it may be the best and cheapest way to get an “original” from Magnum Photos to display than paying thousands for the “real thing”.
Find out how one photographer sells NFTs (opens in a new tab). You may also like best professional cameras (opens in a new tab).
