Magnum Photos partners with The Photo Society for its upcoming Square Print Sale, titled Eden. Running to October 27th, Eden explores the miraculous beauty of our planet’s landscapes, ecosystems, and people, while emphasizing the urgent need to protect them from an existential threat: humankind.
For this Square Print Sale edition, we’ve partnered with The Photo Society, an organization
Cristina de Middel, Magnum president.
at the forefront of documenting this beauty. My hope is that the collection we’ve curated will
serve as a reminder, subtle or stark, of what’s truly at stake.
Over 120 images, hand-picked by the photographers themselves, will be available to purchase as limited-edition 6 x 6” prints during the online sale. They call attention to the splendor of nature, as well as the devastating, but potentially restorative, consequences of our actions. The stakes couldn’t be higher and these images seek to provoke both pause and resistance on behalf of Earth, as well as its future generations and their collective ability to flourish. In Eden, there is abundance — but only for a limited time.
The Photo Society was founded in 2011 as an organized community of select documentary photographers who have contributed to National Geographic. The partnership gathers for the first time the work of two distinct groups of world-class photographers, each offering a cornucopia of contributions from around the globe. From rainforests to concrete jungles and everywhere in between, the collection captures not only a diverse range of places but also a vibrant spectrum of thematic interpretations.
Everyone has a vision of an ideal world. Whether a bygone era, a future utopia, or something glimpsed here-and-now. Some images feel dark and dystopian, others humorous, ironic, and even counterintuitive, and yet, others still offer a deeply rooted, hopeful vision for the survival and resilience of an ailing people and planet. All these photographs and all they evoke, for all their differences, are grounded in the world we inhabit.
In the Eden Square Print Sale collection, against a seemingly desolate landscape, Susan Meiselas shows a children’s ride constructed of man-made swans within a gated section of an amusement park built in Kurdistan for domestic tourism. Alec Soth offers a blank painter’s canvas surrounded by vegetation above White Bear Lake in Minnesota. Elliott Erwitt’s contribution compares sacred and commercial iconography with his trademark clarity and humor in Argentina. Myriam Boulos brings forth a stunning closeup of a woman with a rooster, showing the intimate relationship between humans and animals.
Images from members of The Photo Society include their founder Randy Olson’s shot of Mohanis fishermen in Pakistan’s Indus River who still use a 5,000-year-old method for hunting birds. Maria Daniel Balcazar’s photo is inspired by the Afro-Caribbean poet Julia de Burgos, whose poems act as a force of nature, reflecting an identity rooted in the Earth.
The founders of Magnum envisioned a world where photographers could capture what they see without being constrained by the agendas of magazines and newspapers. In that same spirit, The Photo Society was formed 13 years ago when National Geographic photographers fought to keep their copyrights. Recognizing that there would be more challenges ahead, we took action,
said Olson.
Historically, photographers held influential roles, serving as editors, Directors of Photography, managing the archive, and making crucial decisions on grants for luminaries like Jane Goodall. Today, in a world where visual information is outpacing text, it is concerning that photographers have an ever-weakening seat at the decision-making table. This underscores the vital mission of The Photo Society. We are dedicated to promoting, preserving, and empowering photojournalism across the globe. We are also thrilled to partner with the esteemed Magnum organization, showcasing solidarity within the photographic community and celebrating the tireless efforts of photographers who document the incredible world around us
The Eden Square Print Sale ends Sunday, October 27th at 11:59 p.m. ET, exclusively at store.magnumphotos.com
Over 120 signed or estate-stamped, museum-quality 6×6” prints are available online priced from $110/£110/€120.
Magnum Square Prints are printed on 6 x 6” (15.24 x 15.24 cm) archival paper; image size is 5.5” (14 cm) on the longest side. Images will not be cropped but will instead have white borders. They are not editioned by quantity but by time, as these items will not be available outside of the Square Print Sale online sale, or any Square Print Sale in-person events that may take place before, during or after the online event. The images in each sale are always different, and will never be available in this format again.
