Magnum Photos and Vogue collaborate on print sale with proceeds going to NAACP

Magnum Photos has teamed up with Vogue for the July 2020 Square Print Sale, with 50 per cent of the proceeds being donated to the civil rights organisation the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). For the next six days, over 100 archival-quality prints, signed by the photographers or estate-stamped by their estates, are available to buy for just $100.

The selection brings together over 100 images and accompanying texts by international visual artists, past and present, including Khalik Allah, Eve Arnold, Elliott Erwitt, Alex Webb, Robert Capa, Chris Maggio, Jackie Nickerson, and many more. It also features many contemporary photographers who will be familiar to regular It’s Nice That readers, including Ronan McKenzie, Rahim Fortune, Miranda Barnes, Hassan Hajjaj, and Stephen Tayo.

Under the title “Solidarity”, and against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement, the photographers were each tasked with choosing an image from their archives that reflected upon “the power of togetherness in tumultuous times”, according to Magnum Photos. Many of the selected images in the curation, therefore, explore moments in history when the rallying of masses strove to bring about positive change. There are dozens of photographs depicting the civil rights movement in the US, with a thread that runs through to the present day in a photograph like Richie Shazam’s depiction of a Black Trans Lives Matter march in Brooklyn earlier this year.

However, the selection also includes more metaphorical approaches to the theme, depicting more personal interpretations of solidarity, covering friendships and vocations. In what is a wide-ranging selection, there are images such as Harry Gruyaert’s photograph of fishermen working together in a storm, Alec Soth’s image of friendship between two blind men, Hassan Hajjaj’s depiction of a troupe of acrobats from Tangiers, and W Eugene Smith’s 1951 portrait of midwife Maude Callen supporting her community.

Below is a selection of images from the sale, selected by the It’s Nice That team. Purchase one of these 6x6” prints over the next six days from Magnum Photos (click here for the sale), and 50 per cent of proceeds will go to the NAACP and its vision to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race.