This landmark book celebrates the 70th anniversary of the world’s greatest photographic agency, Magnum Photos. Offering a fresh and insightful view of the agency’s history and archive, it takes an analytical look at the work of Magnum’s photographers, and provides an understanding of what it is that makes Magnum Photos so different, so special and so great.

Author and curator Clément Chéroux, together with Clara Bouveresse, demonstrates how Magnum Photos owes its pre-eminence to the ability of its photographers to encompass and navigate the points between photography as art object and photography as documentary evidence. A Magnum photograph can be expressive and bear witness at the same time.

The book is organized into three main parts: Part I (1947–1968) views the Magnum archive through a humanist lens, focusing on post-war ideals of commonality and utopianism. Part II (1969–1989) shows a world fragmenting, with a focus on subcultures, minorities and outsiders. Part III (1990–2017) charts the ways in which Magnum photographers have captured – and continue to capture – a world in flux and under threat.

Featuring both group and individual projects, the book includes magazine spreads, newspaper articles, excerpts from books, and other valuable material, putting some of the world’s most recognizable images in creative context. Complete with extensive texts, an anthology of correspondence and an agency timeline, Magnum Manifesto is an expertly curated, essential collection of images and commentary for anyone seeking the very best in photography.

Clément Chéroux is senior curator of photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He was formerly head curator of photography at the Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Clara Bouveresse is a photography historian, with a PhD in art history from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University.