We’re in luck in Madrid with this new exhibition: Magnum: The body Observed, that is being held at the Fundación Canal. Its commissioners are Montserrat Pis Marcos (Sainsbury Centre) and Emily Graham (Magnum Photos).

This is a sample that gathers 136 images, in which 14 of the most renowned photographers of the Magnum Photos agency focus their lenses on the human body as a form of expression, from the 1930s up to now.

“The sample gathers over 130 forms of expression of the human body caught by the lenses of Magnum Photos.”

That’s why, on the journey that these extraordinary snaps lead us, we are also invited to reflect on intimacy, our own identities, sexuality, ranging from rituals, voyeurism and performance, as well as on how society and its stereotypes determine how we represent and understand the human body.

“Its images try to transcend their mere documentary task, going on to expose the characteristics of the lives and personalities of those pictured by means of a profound interaction with their physique.”

It’s worth pointing out the fact that photographers of an agency renowned worldwide for its photojournalism have chosen, in this exhibition, to photograph the body to treat aspects as intrinsic and personal for humans as identity, sexuality or convictions.

The exhibition includes images by:

Eve Arnold (Philadelfia, U.S.A., 1912 – London, United Kingdom, 2012).
Olivia Arthur (London, United Kingdom, 1980).
Werner Bischof (Zurich, Switzerland, 1916 – Trujillo, Perú, 1954).
Antoine D’Agata (Marseilles, France, 1961).
Bieke Depoorter (Cortrique, Belgium, 1986).
Cristina Gª Rodero (Puertollano, Ciudad Real, 1949).
Bruce Gilden (NewYork, U.S.A., 1946).
Philippe Hallsman (Riga, Latvia, 1906 – New York, U.S.A., 1979).
Tim Hetherington (Birkenhead, United Kindom, 1970 – Misurata, Libya, 2011).
Herbert List (Hamburg, Germany, 1903 – Munich, Germany, 1975).
Susan Meiselas (Baltimore, U.S.A., 1948).
Miguel Rio Branco (Las Palmas de Gran de Canaria, 1946).
Alessandra Sanguinetti (new York, U.S.A., 1958).
Alec Soth (Minneapolis, U.S.A., 1969).

(*) Photos provided by Fundación Canal · Cover photo: Agata. Paris, 2017 © Bieke Depoorter/Magnum Photos. Photo 1: Grace Kelly and Philippe Halsman. 1955 © Philippe Halsman/Magnum Photos. Photo 2: La Virgen. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2001 © Alessandra Sanguinetti/Magnum Photos. Photo 3: ‘Doc’ Kelso sleeping. Puesto de Restrepo, Afghanistan. 2008 © Tim Hetherington / IWM /Magnum Photos.