Magnum’s first exhibition

It is unusual when a former exhibition is staged again after several decades. During this time the social situation which was reflected on by the original version is changing; therefore, it is also necessary to change the concept by which the new exhibition is shaped and realized. The new exhibition may evoke and refer to the former one, or, perhaps, it may also be considered as taking a position in relation to the earlier exhibition. However, the two cannot be separated from each other and a dialog is formed between the two exhibitions at any rate – even if the old one remains silent, it is still hidden somewhere in the updated version.

Magnum was founded in 1947 and – in the meantime also officially acknowledged as – their very first exhibition’s material was shown in 1955 and in 1956 in Innsbruck, Vienna, Graz and Linz. The whereabouts of the photographs, just as the fact of the exhibition were forgotten for a long time. An exhibition was put on view again from the old selection in 2008 by the Westlicht Gallery in Vienna and then by several other galleries in Germany, Slovenia and Spain. There is hardly anything we know about the underlying intentions behind the creation of the old exhibition and its objective, so we can only infer some conclusions. Even the basic idea of the concept is only elucidated by the short written instructions that accompanied the material packed into the cases. They drew the attention of the local staff to hang the photos on the wall in a predetermined sequence in order to preserve their photo report aspect.

Two important events took place during these years which help us to understand the circumstances of Magnum Photos’ first exhibition. The first is the The Family of Man exhibition opened in New York and then touring “half of the world” until 1961. The other is the large Magnum show at the photokina organized by Fritz Gruber in Cologne in 1956.

In the USA, museum space became a medium of communication and a place of public discourse towards the late 1930s, where exhibitions, debates and various events were to confirm the principles which were considered to be fundamental for their own self-definition that can be retraced to the Declaration of Independence. It was important on the eve of World War II, even if it was not completely self-evident, to stand up for democratic values and to distance themselves from the trends which played a significant role in shaping the “man of the crowd” in totalitarian societies. After the war broke out, emphasizing the necessity of individual thinking, standing up for individualism and pluralism was complemented by showing the war efforts, with a clear reference made to the (presumed or real) social and cultural diversity that could give hope to a military victory. Exhibitions of photography, such as the ones organized by Edward Steichen in the MOMA in New York, rendered these ideas visible, so that they could be experienced by the people, due to – among others – an installation at the exhibition by Herbert Bayer who studied at Bauhaus earlier and immigrated to the USA. Based on the experience he gained at Bauhaus, Bayer elaborated an installation arrangement (Diagram of 360 Degrees Field of Vision, 1935), where the observer – as if standing in a cylinder – would sweep along its surface. There is no accentuated position this way, there is no predetermined point of view, the observer is required to look at the pictures continuously. And what is more, the observer has the task to put the pictures in some kind of order and link or separate them. Therefore the observer is not dependent on the editor-organizer so much as if he or she was turning the pages of a magazine or looking at a series of pictures hanging side by side on the wall in a traditional way.

In the 1950s, in the shadow of cold war politics, museums again offered an opportunity to bring up and consider subjects which were regarded as taboo in the other mediums of public life. All these had an important role in creating the Family of Man: Steichen and his assistant, Wayne Miller with the help of Paul Rudolph interior designer created a “multimedia theme park”, where the visitor was not only a passive observer, but he or she was also required to participate. Although there was a fixed order of how to look at the exhibition, but that was only a sequence of larger categories. However, within these categories – while getting confronted with the space itself he or she entered or its shape, as well as with the spatial arrangement of the images, their loose spatial relations or with the information on the “photographs” – the observer had to do the job of perceiving and making sense. As such, the visitor did not receive ready solutions but he or she could freely exercise their abilities that – in line with the general perception of the time – help people of a democratic kind to make decisions. A photograph was a means in this medium. The image it conveyed was as if it had shown the world, while the then unbroken authority of the press and documentary photography gave credit to the image. The organizers stepped out of the well-know pictorial narrative of LIFE, one of the most influential magazines of the period, in order to help the observer with already tested methods and means so that he or she can create the narrative that was conveyed to him or her about the world with the help of the pictures on his or her own. The photographs suggested togetherness and diversity and covered the most fundamental human stories. Birth, life and death, everyone’s common destiny.
The exhibition was originally intended as a travelling exhibit; its mission according to the intention of the organizers and the museum directors was to show the most fundamental human desires, the most important endeavours, the merits, but also bitterness and despair felt either due to the “evil” and the “bad”. Their message was that mankind, as a big family shares all these which become their common destiny.

A major part of the photographs shown at the Family of Man exhibition were also selected from the reports and picture reports of Magnum’s photographers, Capa, Cartier-Bresson, Seymour, Rogers and Bischof. In spite of this, they had the opportunity to be presented individually at the photokina which conveyed such an important message to the West German citizens living in the euphoria of growing welfare from Ludwig Erhardt’s economic miracle, as Steichen’s installation, starting its European tour in West Berlin.

But why was it necessary to organize an exhibition tour in Austria almost at the same time with these two events? The answer – even if it is not clear – but it is obvious. Austria regained its independence in 1955 and took a commitment to non-aligned politics, i.e. it officially refused to join any of the major political (or military) blocks. The Austrian State Treaty was also signed in that summer. Austria was approaching Western Europe in economic and political terms, since only the state was engaged by neutrality, but the citizens were not, said Federal Chancellor Julius Raab. This “choice” may have been confirmed and supported by the Magnum exhibition.
The exhibition created in 2008 is not identical to the original one. It is rather a commemoration and not a reconstruction. Today the old series of photographs and picture reports can only carry their original meaning with a reference to the historical context. This way they can emphasize the relationship with the printed press, which, in those years, played a significant role and not primarily as a source of news. But, if you like, they literally conveyed an image of the world.

Our thinking about photography – including the role and significance of press photography – has completely changed since then. A photograph is rather a constructed image and it is not primarily a window to the world any more. It is not so much a source of information, but rather a canned experience lasting a long time that can be opened and closed again any time. But the status of photographs of old reports has equally changed. Prints which were only used once as tools became curiosities and they are highly valued by collectors as vintage copies. Preserving the unity of the original photo report has lost its significance this way, since people are not looking for the story behind, but rather a distinguished object deserving attention as a museum piece.

(written by: Gábor Pfisztner)