Magnum's First
September 10–December 13, 2025
Returning January 14–April 4, 2026
In 1955, the legendary photo agency Magnum Photos organized its first group exhibition, Gesicht der Zeit (Face of Time)—a powerful reflection of postwar life and human resilience. This historic show was thought lost for over fifty years. Then, in 2006, it was rediscovered in the basement of the Institut Français in Innsbruck, Austria. Now presented for the first time in North America, Magnum’s First features eighty-three original prints from the exhibition by eight of the agency’s early members, including the celebrated documentary photographers Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Inge Morath, and Ernst Haas.
Restaged using the exhibition’s original layout, Magnum’s First captures a wide range of photographic approaches and global perspectives—from street scenes in Japan to political unrest in Hungary and the funeral of Gandhi in India. The show offers a rare glimpse into the origins of Magnum Photos and its foundational role in shaping postwar photojournalism.
Organized in collaboration with Magnum Photos.
Henri Cartier-Bresson, [Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru announces Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, Delhi, India], 1948, gelatin silver print mounted on fiberboard. © Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos
Werner Bischof, [On the road to Cusco, Peru], 1954, gelatin silver print mounted on fiberboard. © Werner Bischof Estate / Magnum Photos
Curator Bio
Gaëlle Morel
Gaëlle Morel has been the Exhibitions Curator at The Image Centre since 2010, during which time she has curated dozens of exhibitions and written and edited numerous publications. Her latest projects include Stories from the Picture Press: Black Star Publishing Co. & The Canadian Press; Mary Ellen Mark: Ward 81; and Lee Miller, a Photographer at Work (1932-1945). In 2009, Morel was the guest curator of the photography biennial, Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal. She is currently an instructor in the Film + Photography Preservation and Collections Management graduate program at Toronto Metropolitan University. Morel holds a PhD in the History of Contemporary Photography from Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Exhibition Catalogue
Magnum Photos: 75 Years
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the famous Magnum Photos agency, the book puts into perspective its history and the photographers who work there, against the backdrop of the events they have gone through. Through short, chronologically sorted texts, the book tells the “little stories” that lie behind major photographs. From May 1968 in France to September 11, 2001, through the Vietnam War and more recent conflicts, all contemporary history unfolds under the lens of the agency's photographers. We discover the behind-the-scenes of a trip, the encounters that changed a life, the publication context of a legendary book, the political commitment of a photographer, or even the improbable scenario of an image that has become iconic.
Addressed to as much the reader who would like to discover documentary photography, as to the specialist who would like to complete his knowledge, Magnum Photos 75 Years is a collection of anecdotes and singular stories which reveals a great fresco of this mythical press agency, thanks to the work led by the author Philippe Séclier. The book is also distinguished by its original shape: evoking photographs without ever showing them but only by summoning them through the text. You will have to unfold the front and back endpapers of the book to discover the images hidden inside...
Available for purchase in-person and in the IMC shop online.
Magnum's First
