Magnum Photos x Aperture launch 'Works of Imagination' Square Print Sale

20 October 2020

Today marks the start of the Works of Imagination October Square Print Sale, which has been put together by Magnum Photos and Aperture. The flash-style sale begins today and will finish on Sunday October 25.

© Ernest Cole - Magnum Photos
Summer in the City. Harlem, New York, USA. — © Ernest Cole - Magnum Photos Summer in the City. Harlem, New York, USA.

The one-week-only sale features more than 100 photographs that have been captured by photographers from around the world. Each museum-quality print is available for purchase for just $100.

© Cornell Capa - Magnum Photos
Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift and Eli Wallach on the set of — © Cornell Capa - Magnum Photos

Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift and Eli Wallach on the set of "The Misfits." Nevada, USA. 1960.

"One thing that Life and I agreed right from the start was that one war photographer was enough for my family; I was to be a photographer of peace.”- Cornell Capa

Magnum Photos is the now iconic photography agency that began as a humble artist’s cooperative in Paris in the mid twentieth century. Aperture, Magnum’s partner in this year’s Square Print Sale, is a not-for-profit foundation based in New York. Aperture emerged in 1952 as a “common ground for the advancement of photography” by acting as a publisher and hub for the photography community in the USA and around the world. The foundation still works with this mission at the core of its operations today.

'Streams’. Made for a portfolio of 24 photos. Zurich, Switzerland. 1941.

“Werner Bischof took this picture, titled ‘Streams’, when he was 25 years old, in Zurich, while all around, the Second World War was raging. What a difference between that situation and the picture. Some lines from his diary around that time: Just the same oppressive state with all its attendant horrors and the destruction of everything beautiful — war. (October 1940) How are we young people meant to endure all this misfortune! (May 1941)” - Estate of Werner Bischof

Each print in the sale measures 6x6”, with the image appearing slightly smaller than the full print size due to the white border around the edges of the image.

White Sands, New Mexico, USA. 1982.

“It’s the month of November: the temperature is mild, the sun is welcome. I stand in front of this family at lunch, at the foot of magnificent white sand dunes.”- Raymond Depardon

Each print that is available for purchase is either signed or estate-stamped, and they have each been editioned by time as opposed to quantity, because these prints will not be available for purchase outside of this one-week-only sale period.

Wyoming, USA. 1954.

“Good photography is not about ‘Zone Printing’ or any other Ansel Adams nonsense. It’s just about seeing. You either see, or you don’t see. The rest is academic. Photography is simply a function of noticing things. Nothing more.” - Elliott Erwitt

The subject matter of the Works of Imagination collection spans a range of genres and styles, moving from photojournalism to more artistic and abstract images. The whole collection is unified by the concept of storytelling: captured moments and the stories that exist beyond the edges of the frame. At once, each photograph belongs as an integral part of this collection of stories as well as on its own, as a standalone work of art.

To have a look at the prints on sale, you can visit the website here.