Humanity and Inhumanity

Description

George Rodger (1908-95), together with Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa and David ‘Chim’ Seymour, was a founding member of Magnum, the greatest photographic agency of the post-war era. Rodger’s baptism as a photojournalist came when he was appointed a ‘stringer’ for Life magazine during the London Blitz in 1940. He then embarked on a series of adventures that took him to almost every battlefield of World War II in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. In 1948, after co-founding Magnum, he began a campaign of photography to rediscover humanity, travelling from Cape Town to Cairo by road.

This book presents the pictures that define Rodger’s long career, together with reflections by Bruce Bernard on each phase of his extraordinary life’s journey. With a revealing foreword by Henri Cartier-Bresson and 230 powerful images, it represents a fitting tribute to George Rodger and a dynamic celebration of his life’s work.

Co-founder of the prestigious Magnum agency, George Rodger (1908-95) was a war correspondent with Life from 1939 to 1945. Traumatized by the experience of war, he embarked on a 28,000-mile journey to Africa and the Middle East, concentrating on rituals and ways of life in close relationship with nature.

Bruce Bernard (1929-2000) was a picture editor and writer whose interest in photography dated back to his childhood. His career with images included eight years as Picture Editor of the Sunday Times magazine and four years as Visual Arts Editor of the Independent magazine. Among his previous works are the anthology Photodiscovery (1980), Vincent by Himself (1985) and The Queen of Heaven (1987). He reviewed books and exhibitions for several publications including the Spectator. His most recent book Century (Phaidon, 1999), to which he devoted the last years of his life, is a vast photographic record of the twentieth century.

Peter Marlow was President of Magnum from 1989 to 1993. He started his photographic career in 1977, working on news and features with Sygma. His work has been published internationally and his latest publication is Liverpool: Looking out to Sea (1993).

‘The outstanding photographic book of the year.’ (TheBritish Journal of Photography)

‘A beautiful volume of photographs.’ (Sunday Times)