Magnum Photos

Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City and London. It was founded in Paris in 1947 by the photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour known as Chim, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and William Vandivert, together with Rita Vandivert and Maria Eisner, on an idea of Capa. Members retain the copyright to their own photographs, and the staff serve in a support role for the photographers. The cooperative became one of the best known names in photojournalism and documentary photography, and in 2010 a collection of nearly 200,000 original press prints of Magnum images was acquired by MSD Capital, which donated it in 2013 to the Harry Ransom Center.