Over 70 years the Magnum agency's portfolio of world-class photographers have captured the major events and minor moments of the modern world. Direct, frank, and powerful, Magnum images testify to the fact that the secret of a great photo lies not just in the eye but in the heart.
Two stand out for me in particular, firstly there's a photo of a Cuban fisherman and his family. At first glance they look like any happy family the world over but when you read the caption you realise the dreadful undercurrent. If you compare the background to this photo taken in 1954 with the one taken around 1950 at the yacht club buffet (see post #336 in the Trump Supporters thread) certainly helps me to understand the Cuban revolution a little better.
Secondly, on the eve of the American election I thought this photo quite poignant. I've copied the caption as it appears next to the photo:
USA. 1968. Robert Kennedy funeral train. © Paul Fusco / Magnum Photos: “I took this photograph from the train that brought Robert F. Kennedy’s remains from New York to Washington, D.C. The train tracks were lined with up to two million people who came to witness the passage. The crowd represented all kinds of Americans; Bobby Kennedy’s fight for racial reconciliation made him, to many, ‘the most trusted white man in black America’. The people in this photograph had a meaningful connection with Kennedy and an appreciable reason to build a sign, stand in the heat and say goodbye to the man who had once offered them hope.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/article ... y&ns_fee=0