Photos by Alex Webb and Mary Ellen Mark courtesy of “Great Journeys” Magnum Photos Square Print Sale with Aperture Foundation
If you’ve been wanting to get your hands on some prints by the world’s most celebrated photographers, now is your chance. Magnum Photos has recently partnered with Aperture Foundation for a “Great Journeys” Square Print Sale, which has over 100 signed prints by the likes of Martin Parr, Alex Webb, and Joel Meyerowitz up for grabs for $100. But you have to hurry, as they will only be available until tomorrow, November 3rd.
Put together with the theme of “Great Journeys” in mind, the selection is inspired by Magnum co-founder George Rodger’s choice after the horrors of war. The vision takes after the idea of traveling in search of photos that inspire hope for humanity. Magnum and Aperture explore this theme literally and metaphorically through the collection made exclusively available in this partnership.
“Over the course of seven years—from 1998 to 2005—I wandered the streets of Istanbul, from Cihangir to Ayvansaray, from Üsküdar to Altınşehir, from Kadıköy to the ancient Theodosian walls. Meandering its warren of winding streets and riding its ferries, I found that serendipity guided me—in its roundabout way. More often than not, I had to lose my way in order to find my most successful photographs.
In 2001, I remember crossing the Sea of Marmara after a frustrating series of missed ferries and lost opportunities—a typical afternoon for a street photographer. In the fading light, I thought I was done for the day, and was considering ordering a tea to help fend off the brisk sea air. Then something caught my eye: an older Turkish man, lost in thought, framed by the pink-purple glow of dusk. His reverie had a kind of mysterious weight to it—hard-to-define, yet almost palpable. In that moment, I slowly began to understand—at least visually—Orhan Pamuk’s notion of ‘hüzün,’ an untranslatable word that suggests a rich and complicated melancholy that’s unique to Istanbul, the writer’s birthplace and one of the most astonishingly beautiful cities in the world, a place that seems haunted by its past, and, these days, beleaguered by its present.” – Alex Webb
“I’m always looking for something that’s a little on the strange side, some kind of tension or a feeling that is slightly off-putting. This picture of the elephant and his trainer is one of my most well-known pictures from the Indian circus. He had the elephant perform that for me (I think he was showing off). But what makes the portrait work so well is the elephant’s expression. I took several pictures of this act, so much so that the elephant got fed up. He looked at me from the side as if to say, “Ugh, Mary Ellen, that’s enough. This is your last frame.” Afterward, the trainer insisted that I get my picture taken with the elephant’s trunk around me. It was very heavy!”
Signed and estate stamped, museum quality, 6×6” prints from over 100 artists will be available for $100 only until November 3rd, 6 PM EST. Check out the “Great Journeys” Magnum Square Print Sale in Partnership with Aperture on shop.magnumphotos.com.
