Leading up to Magnum Photos’ 68th Annual General Meeting, the cooperative’s members were asked to select 'An Image that Changed Everything'. The idea was to give photographers an opportunity to reflect on their careers and identify a single picture that represents a turning point in their lives as image makers. Over fifty Magnum photographers have submitted an image with an accompanying story. In this post we focus on the stories from six Magnum photographers.
Donovan Wylie : The ball bounced. I was home again, in Belfast. That period was a turning point — many balls in the air, the peace process starting and stopping. It was the start of a journey back home.
Alessandra Sanguinetti : I met Belinda and Guillermina when they were five years old. They were usually fluttering about while I was photographing their grandmother’s animals for my project On the Sixth Day. I’d always shoo them away from the frame until, one day, I turned my attention towards them. That’s when I made this image — a photograph that marks the beginning of what turned out to be a long journey with them.
Thomas Hoepker : People often ask me, ‘What is your most important tool?’ And I reply, ‘comfortable shoes.’ Indeed, most of my pictures were made while walking through a city or a landscape. I found this particular scene while strolling through the streets of Reno, Nevada one night in 1963. I was on assignment for the German magazine Kristall. The writer, Rolf Winter, and I flew to New York, rented a car, drove across the country and back again. We had no briefing from our editors except, ‘Give us your opinion on America. Come back once you feel you have seen enough.’ This project led me to eventually publish a book titled Heartland, a rather critical view of the United States in the nineteen sixties. The clown at the lunch counter never saw me.
Chris Steele Perkins : When do things change so dramatically that they change our lives? Rarely in a moment, other than natural disasters or major accidents. Usually change happens as a build-up, an accretion of experience. Take love. I didn’t fall in love with my wife Miyako in an instant. I met her in Japan, went back to see her again quite soon, and then she came to England. Somewhere in that period I realised that I was in love. This is a photo taken of Miyako on her first visit to see me in England, so it is taken within the time frame that changed my life. It is on a walk in the South Downs. A lot is not revealed, still hidden by a lattice of shadows and you could read meaning into that if you like. I don’t. I’m just happy that eighteen years later she is still my wife.
From June 8th to June 12th, these images will be made available as signed Magnum Square Prints for $100 in the link below. Magnum Square Prints are printed on 6 x 6” (15.24cm x 15.24cm) archival paper. They are not editioned by quantity, but editioned by time, as these items will not be made available outside the sale window. See Magnum store below for full list of images and details. All images copyright of featured Magnum Photographers.