Own a Carolyn Drake or Alec Soth print for $110/£110: Magnum print sale now on

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Works by 101 photographers appear in the ‘Vital Signs’ Magnum Square sale, for one week only, until April 23

magnum squares april 2023 listing image
Own an Alec Soth, Emin Özmen or Larry Sultan print – or many more – in the latest Magnum Square Print Sale, until 23 April (Image credit: © Alec Soth/Magnum Photos, Emin Özmen/Magnum Photos, Larry Sultan)

Magnum Photos concludes its 75th-anniversary celebrations with the last in a series of three Square Print Sales. 

‘Vital Signs’ runs until Sunday April 23 and follows ‘Now’ and ‘Precedents’,  which took place in 2022. 

Taken together, the three sales offer a fascinating look back over the history of the iconic photo agency, which was founded in 1947. 

Available for purchase include prints by A. Abbas, Christopher Anderson, Eve Arnold, Myriam Boulos, Sabiha Çimen, Constantine Manos, Peter Marlow, Steve McCurry, Susan Meiselas, Cristina de Middel, Inge Morath, Trent Parke, Mark Power, Chris Steele-Perkins, Newsha Tavakolian – and many more.

This sale runs for just one week, so you’ll need to act quickly to own a museum-quality print, which are priced at $110/£110/€120.

The ‘Vital Signs’ Square Print Sale is open until Sunday 23 April at 23.59 EST (20.59 PST/04.59 BST Monday 24 April). 

• Read more: Best cameras for street photography

Magnum Squares April 2023 Alec Soth image

Alec Soth, Magnum photographer. A couple off of Nome’s beachfront. Alaska, 2015. “Embedded in the blue hour is a feeling of expectation and trepidation. This picture was taken during the endless Arctic twilight of a summer night in Alaska. One way to survive such uncertainty is companionship. Another way is with art.” (Image credit: © Alec Soth/Magnum Photos)

This third and final of the 75th-anniversary celebration sales is different to its predecessors, though. 

For the first time in the sale’s nine-year history, Magnum photographers have invited a diverse group of artists, filmmakers and fellow photographers to join them and contribute an image of their own. 

So in addition to Magnum photographers and estates you will see names including Judd Apatow, Roger Deakins, Todd Hido, Alfredo Jaar, Hannah Reyes Morales, Larry Sultan, Weegee – and more. 

By doing this, the leading agency is seeking to explore photography from new perspectives. 

UK buyers can see all prints in person at the Magnum Gallery, 63 Gee St, London EC1V 3RS, until Saturday 22 April. 

Click here to browse the full selection of the prints available in the ‘Vital Signs’ sale. 

Cristina de Middel, Magnum photographer. Agbako. From the series This is What Hatred Did. Lagos, Nigeria. 2013. “I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.” Robert Fulghum, from the book ‘All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts On Common Things‘. (Image credit: © Cristina de Middel/Magnum Photos)

“We are opening the doors and inviting our long-time friends to join the conversation,” said Magnum Photos president, Cristina de Middel. 

“The invitation is just a formality, as the photography family has always shared a house – a house that is busy, and in constant renovation. As a family, we are now, once again, looking at the future with more questions than answers.

“Photographers have built the visual chronology of who we were and who we are today. 

“For who we will be, the journey ahead is one that we are not ready to do alone. It will be a long road, and for that, we need as many skilled and diverse travelers as we can get,” added De Middel.

Own a limited edition Magnum Square Print for $110

Cristina Garcia Rodero, Magnum photographer. Twenty-four lies per second (Veinticuatro mentiras por segundo). FIB music festival, Castellón, Spain, 2007. “Music makes life feel full of color and joy that we can experience, enjoy and share.” (Image credit: © Cristina Rodero Garcia/Magnum Photos)

Magnum Square Prints are printed on 6 x 6in (15.24 x 15.24cm) archival paper; the image size is 5.5in (14cm) on the longest side. The images will not be cropped but will have white borders. 

As the sale runs for just seven days, you will need to act quickly to own a museum-quality print from some of the biggest names in photography for just $110/£110/€120 plus tax. 

Magnum Photos was founded in Paris in 1947 and holds regular Square Print Sales every year. The images in each sale are always different, and are not available outside the sale window. 

Susan Meiselas, Magnum photographer. The Star Tease. From the book Carnival Strippers Revisited. Tunbridge, Vermont, 1975. “Being ‘next’ – next up to perform oneself before an unknown crowd. To have the confidence to command an unruly group of men, to tease or tempt them while setting limits and maintaining control. Too often women become the victims of abuse when exposed to the power play of unleashed sexual desire.”  (Image credit: © Susan Meiselas/Magnum Photos)

Emin Özmen, Magnum photographer. Sirnak, Turkey, 2021. “After seeing what human beings can do to each other, I decided to dedicate more time to nature and animals. With this in mind, I hit the road with a nomad family and in 2021 joined their seasonal transhumance – a tradition that goes back centuries. Passing through mountains and plateaus, forty days on the road, 400 kilometers on foot, was an unforgettable journey for me, where I could really hear the sound of Earth closest. In this picture, twelve-year-old Cetin is facing his goat during our journey. He said, ‘I love animals, especially the young ones.’” (Image credit: © Emin Ozmen/Magnum Photos)

Khalik Allah, Magnum photographer. Whithorn, Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica, West Indies, August 2022. (Image credit: © Khalik Allah/Magnum Photos)

Larry Sultan, Magnum friend. Dad on Sofa. From the series Pictures from Home, 1984. “I’ve always been interested in the theater of the home. That’s kind of what my work is – taking the construction of the domestic and looking at it as a theatrical subject. I’m very conscious that I grew up in a family where the home was a theatrical setting. As a child, my parents hired a decorator; she painted a grape tree in the living room and put rubber grapes on its tendrils. She also put gold leaf on a Picasso print so that it looked like Picasso had painted in gold. We had shag carpets, and our living room was one that no one went into. We lived in that kind of situation where our family house was a theater. Family life is already a stage – home is situated as a symbol of the good life and as an extension of our desired identities. There is desire and nostalgia that can manifest itself in sliding glass doors or flagstone fireplaces.” (Image credit: © Larry Sultan)

Roger Deakins, Magnum friend. The Joy of Flight. Teignmouth, Devon, 2000. “I saw the dog jumping after a thrown stick as I was walking the beach in Teignmouth. I managed to get two shots of him but the one where he looked at the camera was definitely my favorite. It’s funny, I was asked recently: ‘How many dogs were thrown off the promenade before you got the shot?’ Let me assure you, no dogs were thrown and no dogs were harmed in taking this shot!” (Image credit: © Roger Deakins)

Todd Hido, Magnum friend. #10282-a. Lake Erie, Buffalo, New York, USA, 2011. “My first camera ever was a gift from my mother when I was twelve: it was a little 126 Instamatic that she brought home one day from the drugstore where she worked. Even after I got to a point in my career where I had ‘proper’ photo equipment, I have continued to carry a version of that camera with me wherever I go. I have always struggled to take photographs on sunny days, much preferring to work in the nighttime, or at least under a cover of fog or clouds. But there is something about the combination of sunlight and mist from the edges of Lake Erie (in this case near Buffalo, NY) that cries out for the dreamy imprecision of the 126. Whether it is a hazy memory from the past or an ethereal vision of the future is up to the viewer.” (Image credit: © Todd Hido)

The sale is on for only seven days – so buy now!

Yael Martínez, Magnum photographer. A kid plays in the yard at home in Las Moras. Sonora, Mexico, 2019. “We go back to the places we love, to those who gave us a sense of life, of our breathing, to where our hearts vibrated for the time we shared with those we love. I keep hearing the song of the mountain in my head. I feel at home in my town – I listen to the voices of the women. I am asleep, traveling between this dream that mixes with reality. I arrive home at sunset, with the last rays of light, and I feel that these days have been a long dream.” (Image credit: © Yael Martinez/Magnum Photos)

This is just a flavor of the prints on offer in the ‘Vital Signs’ Square Print sale. To browse the full selection, and make a purchase, go to: www.magnumphotos.com/shop

Magnum Square Prints are printed on 6 x 6in (15.24 x 15.24cm) archival paper; image size is 5.5in (14cm) on the longest side. The images will not be cropped but will have white borders instead. 

The ‘Vital Signs’ Square Print Sale is open until Sunday 23 April at 23.59 EST (20.59 PST/04.59 BST Monday 24 April). 

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Niall Hampton
Niall Hampton
Editor

Niall is the editor of Digital Camera Magazine, and has been shooting on interchangeable lens cameras for over 20 years, and on various point-and-shoot models for years before that. 

Working alongside professional photographers for many years as a jobbing journalist gave Niall the curiosity to also start working on the other side of the lens. These days his favored shooting subjects include wildlife, travel and street photography, and he also enjoys dabbling with studio still life. 

On the site you will see him writing photographer profiles, asking questions for Q&As and interviews, reporting on the latest and most noteworthy photography competitions, and sharing his knowledge on website building.