MAGNUM MYTHS
Glendyn Ivin
On the weekend I watched this wonderful hour long docco about the Magnum photographers agency. I love these guys (who doesn't?), apart from producing incredible work I think most the photographers possess special magical powers. Watch in the opening sequence how Martin Parr approaches some elderly women on the street, where one would imagine a group like this would be upset with a stranger coming up and taking close-up photos of them, Martin seems to have them under a spell from the second he takes the first frame. Amazing. Similarly Larry Towell (at around 4mins 30 secs), take photos of Mennonite farmers, the amazing thing here is seeing the footage that the documentary crew shoots, which is great, but the 'photo' Tony shoots of essentially the same scene is so incredibly beautiful, it's like it was taken at a totally different time and place. Magic!
I love watching this process (some more of it here), it's like watching a type of alchemy take place before your eyes.
Spoiler Alert: Special appearance by Henri Cartier-Bresson in the final sequence. Giving the film a poetic and playful climax as only H C-B could.