The First Issue of Magnum's Free Newspaper Looks at ISIS

SYRIA. Semalka Border. Rojava. Torin Khairegi, 18, in Zinar base © Newsha Tavakolian / Magnum Photos

USA. NYC. 9/11/2001. A dazed man picks up a paper that was blown out of the towers after the attack of the World Trade Center, and begins to read it. © Larry Towell/Magnum Photos

IRAQ. Anbar Province, Iraq. June 2008. A Sunni militiaman at a checkpoint near Kharma, Iraq © Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

SYRIA. Palmyra. General view of the ruins of Palmyra. A man on horse back passes as he would of done when Palmyra was originally a trading city in the first century AD. 1966. © George Rodger/Magnum Photos

Magnum Photos recently launched a free newspaper series called Magnum Chronicles that will explore key topics of modern times. The first issue, A Brief Visual History in the Time of ISIS, includes over 40 images from the Magnum archive that explore the history and effects of ISIS and their actions.

A Brief Visual History in the Time of ISIS is supported by Newspaper Club and is curated by Magnum photographer Peter van Agtmael. It includes an essay and timeline by Peter Harling, formerly of the International Crisis Group, and founder of Synaps. The work of nineteen Magnum photographers, including Inge Morath, George Rodger, Newsha Tavakolian, Martin Parr, Peter van Agtmael and Moises Saman, is published in this cardinal newspaper. The images range from those taken in the final years of the French mandate in Syria in 1941 to the fall of Mosul in 2017.

‘The rise and seeming fall of the Islamic State is the most recent chapter in an era of unraveling in the Middle East. ISIS has captured the world’s attention in a way that decades of colonialism, authoritarianism and the external meddling from both regional and global powers have not. Without minimizing the impact of their crimes on millions of people, this work seeks to place ISIS in the context of the long view of history.’ Peter van Agtmael

Future Magnum Chronicles newspaper will each be curated by a different Magnum photographer and will mix contemporary and archival images. “The aim of Magnum Chronicles is to create a series of intelligent free democratic publications that inform, engage and entertain through the use of visual narratives,” writes Magnum in a statement. Each publication will also incorporate collaborations with experts and creatives and will be published in several languages.

The newspaper will be distributed from a selection of cultural venues and bookshops across Europe and the USA. A list of the confirmed distributors can be found here. You can view a digital version of the Chronicles newspaper here, and you can download your own print-yourself newspaper here. In New York, the newspaper can be found at the ICP Bookstore and Dashwood Books.