Looking Back at 2020
Myriam Boulos, Checking in with loved ones in the wake of the explosion at the Port of Beirut.
As we reflect back on this year, we are able to take stock of the incredible breadth of activity and achievements we made together as a creative community throughout the events that defined 2020 across the globe. Below are some highlights from a most unusual and challenging year. Thank you to all of our partners, supporters, friends, grantees, and fellows for rising to the occasion to meet this moment, keeping us engaged, informed, and connected.
We came together as a community across 37 countries
“I cut up some old velvet curtains and started embroidering text messages received from loved ones during quarantine—little notes guiding me during this strange and disconnected time.” – Jessica Bal
We held 13 consecutive weekly gatherings for our global community to stay connected and inspired. Our grantees and fellows came together from 37 different countries, and we extend our thanks to them for activating and participating in many of the new initiatives we were able to launch this year in the midst of isolation.
We want to share with you one particularly generous conversation led by Bruce Shapiro, the Executive Director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, about how to manage the emotional of impact unremitting stress, and make some use of it. You may listen to it here.
We published 48 timely stories on the health crisis, protests for racial justice, and global uprisings
We created new opportunities to leverage our diverse network, ensuring that coverage of the unfolding crises were seen through many perspectives, like partnering with The Nation Magazine on The Invisible Frontline, to focus on and amplify the experiences of frontline workers and communities disproportionately affected by the upheaval.
Cinthya Santos Briones amplifies the stories of Mexican and K’iche’ migrant communities through WhatsApp messages.
Abdo Shanan reflects on the past year's protests in Algeria, before Covid-19 emptied the streets.
Healthcare workers care for us, are we caring for them? Liz Sanders revisits the healthcare workers who cared for her dad in his final days
Johanna Maria Fritz visits her neighbors living in an abandoned factory, as services and support dry up for Berlin’s homeless population.
From the garment factories of Bangladesh to George Floyd’s memorial in Minneapolis, we brought some of these critical stories to the public this fall at Photoville.
We trained 9 Photography and Social Justice Fellows from around the world
How do you make work that forwards social justice without leaving your home? This is the question our fellows had to contend with, adjusting their projects to create work of a more personal nature than in previous years. What emerged was an important, shared experience of turning the lens inward.
From the persistent undercurrents of trauma in Puerto Rico post-Hurricane María, to the challenges facing formerly incarcerated youth upon re-entry in Venezuela, and from personal explorations of masculinity, family, and identity, and how they intersect with disability, to challenging harmful practices and stigmas around menstruation in Nepal, this diverse, international group of visual storytellers used this 6-month fellowship to develop new approaches to socially engaged documentary practice, with guidance from mentors Newsha Tavakolian and Sohrab Hura, Fred Ritchin, and the Magnum Foundation team.
We supported 18 image makers documenting the unprecedented social and economic landscape of the United States
The ongoing struggle for racial justice; the future for immigrant families; the health and well-being of all Americans; the crossroads of this year’s election––we seeded 18 stories covering these issues from underreported perspectives in our most extensive grant-making initiative within the US to date. With support Documentary Arts and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, we partnered again with The Nation Magazine on a series called What’s At Stake.
Destiny Mata takes us behind the doors of New York’s Public Housing.
Sarah Stacke spotlights how the Cheyenne River Reservation is taking measures to protect its communities from Covid-19.
Stacy Kranitz visualizes the devastating closures of hospitals throughout Appalachia.
“I hope the young folks might think about what their ancestors came through to get where we are.” Jared Ragland covers the perspectives of voters across generations in Alabama.
Rian Dundon shows us whats on the other side of the lens as livestreamers and citizen journalists provide constant footage of BLM protests in Portland.
We amplified 16 personal stories from the Arab region and seeded additional stories from other regions over the coming months
Tasneem Alsultan in the Washington Post
Nada Harib in the Washington Post
We made 14 new grants to photographers to tell stories about the pandemic through their own personal lives and lenses. Produced with support from the Henry Luce Foundation, this series of reports provides a window into the distinct challenges and experiences image makers are witnessing.
Nine of these stories, made by photographers from the Middle East and North Africa, were featured in the Washington Post. More than ever, we’re seeing the value of the nuanced and close perspectives drawn out by image makers working within their home communities––something Magnum Foundation has been committed to for the last decade.
In 2020, our Arab Documentary Photography Program, an on-going initiative with the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and the Prince Claus Fund, saw 7 new independent stories completed, and seeded 11 more for the coming year.
We are grateful for your partnership as we build a new future together
This year we also saw grantees present at the National Geographic’s Storytellers Summit; we took part in CultureHub’s Refest festival on the theme of regeneration; we welcomed Nicholas Mirzoeff, Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU, as a scholar in residence to develop his research on anti-racist visual activism. We partnered on talks with the Social Documentary Network (SDN), the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, and with FABnyc for Lower East Side History month.
Billy H.C. Kwok, “Young protesters have been writing letters in case they are arrested or disappeared by security services.” Pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong.
Laila Annemarie Stevens, "The future of politics will depend on the activism and action of the young people who are just now coming into the political arena.” Portraits of first-time American voters.
A strong democracy requires that we see the world through multiple lenses. Magnum Foundation champions the visual storytellers keeping us accountable in these extraordinary times. When we were needed most, Magnum Foundation sprang into action. But we can’t do it without you. This community of essential witnesses depends on your support.