Visual Exchange

Visual Exchange

Visual culture is created through dialogue and exchange. Crossings, November 2018’s Magnum Square Print Sale in partnership with Aperture, looks to personal, physical and metaphorical journeys, exploring the importance of social and artistic discourse in sparking change. Bringing together classic and contemporary photography, the collection explores topics from selfhood and identity to migration, asking questions about human transformation. The sale foregrounds works by a roster of renowned photographers including Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, Nan Goldin, Harry Gruyaert, Catherine Opie, Joel Meyerowitz and Alec Soth.

Featured works include an image from Todd Hido’s (b. 1968) Intimate Distance (2016), a collection of deeply cinematic works documenting suburban landscapes across US. Defined by an intriguing and enigmatic use of light, the series adds a sense of mystery to both domestic and rural settings. The artist notes: “My images address the theme of Crossings in the most basic manner: I bring together exact opposites on the colour wheel, red and green, warm and cool. It’s curious how those foundational basics of colour theory are at work here; opposites are attractive together.”

Further using colour in an alluring way is Magnum’s Carolyn Drake (b. 1971). Shown here is an image from Great Salt Lake, Utah, which documents a subject floating in an otherworldly landscape. Following construction by the Southern Pacific Railroad over 50 years ago, a portion of the water stopped receiving fresh water and has since become a haven for red algae. Drake’s photograph captures two types of algae intermingling – green water meets red in a visually arresting yet unsettling manner. “It is a picture of man in nature that feels strikingly unnatural; the natural order is askew. Humans will force the two species of algae to meet, coexist, fight for dominance, evolve, die off,” Drake explains.

Crossings, Magnum’s Square Print Sale in Partnership with Aperture, runs from 9AM EST Monday 29 October until midnight EST Friday 2 November 2018. Signed and estate stamped, museum quality, 6×6” prints from over 100 artists will be available for $100, for five days only. Find out more here.

Credits:
1.
Todd Hido, Aperture. Untitled, #11669-1778. 2016. © Todd Hido courtesy Aperture.
2. Carolyn Drake, Magnum Photos. Great Salt Lake, Utah. USA. 2016. © Carolyn Drake / Magnum Photos.