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A Llama in Times Square, New York City, USA, 1957 © Inge Morath/Magnum Photos
9 Nov 2024 from 09:30 a.m.

Conference:
Magnum.
A World of Photography

Language

English

Location

MEP – Maison Européenne de la Photographie
5/7 Rue de Fourcy
75004 Paris

Entry

Registration required

Language

English

Location

MEP – Maison Européenne de la Photographie
5/7 Rue de Fourcy
75004 Paris

Entry

Registration required

On November 9, 2024, FOTO ARSENAL WIEN is organising the conference “Magnum. A World of Photography” about the working processes of the renowned photo agency Magnum Photos. This will take place at the MEP (Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris) as part of the world's largest photography fair Paris Photo.

Renowned photographers and Magnum members Martin Parr (UK), Bieke Depoorter (BE), Rafał Milach (PL) and Susan Meiselas (USA), together with international academics, will discuss fundamental questions about artistic archives; their strategies and methods behind them. The discussion partners are Simon Baker (MEP), Florian Ebner (Centre Pompidou), Felix Hoffmann (FOTO ARSENAL WIEN), Renée Mussai (independent curator, writer, scholar) and Sophie-Charlotte Opitz (Bucerius Kunst Forum).
At the end of the conference independent curator Renée Mussai (UK) reflects on an alternative past and possible future of Magnum.


Program 9.11.2024:

9.30 a.m.
Welcome
Simon Baker, Director MEP, Paris

Introduction
Felix Hoffmann, Artistic Director FOTO ARSENAL WIEN, Vienna

10.00 a.m.
Presentation
Martin Parr (UK) on photographers’ processes and archives
Conversation with Simon Baker, Director MEP, Paris

11.30 a.m.
Presentation
Bieke Depoorter (BE) on the investigation archive of “Michael”
Conversation with Felix Hoffmann, Artistic Director FOTO ARSENAL WIEN, Vienna

BREAK 1.00 – 2.30 p.m.

2.30 p.m.
Presentation
Susan Meiselas (USA) on “The Kurdish Archive”
Conversation with Florian Ebner, Centre Pompidou, Paris

4.00 p.m.
Presentation
Rafał Milach (PL) on the “Political Archive”
Conversation with Sophie-Charlotte Opitz, Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg

5.30 p.m.
Lecture 
Renée Mussai (UK), independent curator, writer and scholar, London
The Archive Other/Wise—A Speculative Past and Potential Future?
Conversation with special guest


Registration:
www.mep-fr.org/event/cycle-conference-paris-photo-2024/

Location
MEP – Maison Européenne de la Photographie
5/7 Rue de Fourcy
75004 Paris


About the speakers:

Martin Parr (*1952) became a full member at Magnum Photos in 1994, is born and based in the UK. He is one of the best-known documentary photographers of his generation. With over 100 books of his own published, and another 30 edited by Parr, his photographic legacy is already established. He created the Martin Parr Foundation in 2017 taking care about his legacy and other photographers.


Simon Baker (*1972) is a UK born art historian and since 2018 director at the MEP, Paris. He was senior curator for international art & photography at Tate, London and is widely known as curator, bookmaker and lecturer.


Bieke Depoorter (*1986) became a full member at Magnum Photos in 2016, is born and based in Belgium. She studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Photography in 2009. After Ou Menya, which took her on a journey through Russia, she developed collaborative projects with Agata (2018) and Michael (2020).


Felix Hoffmann (*1972) is a German born art historian, cultural theorist and actually artistic director of FOTO ARSENAL WIEN, Vienna. Between 2005 and 2022 he was program director of the C/O Berlin and is widely known as curator, bookmaker and lecturer.


Susan Meiselas (*1948) became a full member at Magnum Photos in 1976, is born and based in the US. She is well known for her documentation of human rights issues in Latin America and other countries. She has been the president of the Magnum Foundation since 2007, with a mission to expand diversity and creativity in documentary photography.


Florian Ebner (*1970) is a German born art historian and actually head of the photography department of Centre Pompidou, Paris. Before he was head of the photo department at Museum Folkwang, Essen, worked as the director of Photomuseum Braunschweig. He curated the German pavilion of the Venice Biennale in 2018 and is widely known as curator, bookmaker and lecturer.


Rafał Milach (*1978) became a full member at Magnum Photos in 2023, is born and based in Poland. He grew up during the collapse of the Soviet bloc, studied graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland, before “falling in love” with photography the first time he picked up a camera. He is currently a professor at the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice.


Sophie-Charlotte Opitz (*1987) is a German born art historian and actually curator at Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg. She worked as a fellow at Schloss Solitude, for the Krupp Foundation in several museums and was director of the Artur Walther Collection, Neu-Ulm.


Renée Mussai (*1978) is an independent curator, writer and scholar with a special interest in Black feminist visual arts practices. Formerly senior curator and head of curatorial and collections at Autograph, London, she is currently senior research associate at the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre, University of Johannesburg; associate lecturer at the University of the Arts London; and guest curator at the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia. Her forthcoming publications include "Eyes That Commit—A Visual Gathering" (Prestel, 2025) and "Black Chronicles—Photography, Race and Difference in Victorian Britain" (Thames & Hudson / Autograph, 2025).