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I think this is right. But @MagnumPhotos should do more than examine its archive. It should look at how its very creation was made possible by imperialism, patriarchy, & white supremacy. And at how that past shaped its future. Bold claims, you say. Well, follow along. https://twitter.com/jmcolberg/status/1294371434668724225
Now, I'm not saying that Magnum's main founders -- Capa, Cartier-Bresson, Rodger, & Seymour -- were personally racist & sexist. That's beside the point. They were, however, the beneficiaries of interlocking systems of privilege & oppression.
When these men helped to found Magnum, they were already commercially successful photojournalists. They were talented & hard-working. But being white, male, & European or American gave them a tremendous advantage over equally gifted & determined photographers who weren't.
After founding Magnum, right after WWII, they built its reputation by photographing the world. They especially traveled pathways that British & French imperialism had created & that were increasingly maintained by the US. Imperialism & white supremacy gave them the "right" to go.
Imperialism & white supremacy also granted them "permission" to photograph virtually any black & brown person, no matter what circumstances they might be in & over whatever objections they might have.
To a large extent, Magnum's reputation came to rest on its images of suffering or exoticized black & brown people. People who didn't have the power to say No. People who had no "right" to photograph the places Magnum's photographers came from.
Magnum, that is, replicated colonial exploitation.
For many decades, Magnum's membership reflected its origins -- overwhelming white male, & European or North American. Magnum was slow to bring in white women as full members. Even slower to bring in photographers of color. Infamously it had just one Black full member for decades.
But, you say, Magnum's photographers were the good guys. Humanists. The very model of the "concerned photographer." That's true of many of them. But they were trapped in systems larger than themselves. They failed to recognize that. And they never put their own house in order.
Magnum should join the many other institutions who are engaged in genuinely examining their past, acknowledging how racism, especially, & other forms of privilege & oppression shape their past & their present.
We're seen this kind of self-examination among US newspapers. https://www.poynter.org/maligned-in-black-white/
Similarly, many US colleges & universities are engaged in the same sort of reflection. Magnum has many models from which to choose. https://slavery.virginia.edu/symposium/
PS What's good for Magnum would be equally good for other institutions. Corporate America, for instance, has been very reluctant to look at its dark past & connect it to its present.
