Through a Magnum Lens: Photographing the 1960s

Commemorating the Madison Reunion and the 50th anniversary of 1968, the Kohler Art Library’s summer show focuses on the poignant moments that defined a decade. The turbulence of the 1960s was made powerfully visible through the medium of documentary photography. Many of the iconic images we remember today were captured by members of Magnum, an international photographic cooperative. Photographers such as Philip Jones Griffiths and Mary Ellen Marks documented the political and economic turmoil that marked the decade: the Vietnam War and anti-war movement; the California Grape Strike led by Cesar Chavez; Civil Rights marches in Washington, D.C. and Selma, Alabama; student protests and strikes in Paris, France; and the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. Cultural happenings such as Woodstock and the Hippie counterculture are also depicted.

On view are photobooks showcasing the work of the following Magnum photographers:  Eve Arnold, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, Paul Fusco, Leonard Freed, Philip Jones Griffiths, Elliott Landy, Mary Ellen Mark, Constantine Manos, Marc Riboud, W. Eugene Smith, and Dennis Stock.

This exhibit is mounted in conjunction with The Madison Reunion and is on view at the Kohler Art Library, June 11-September 14, 2018.

See the complementary exhibit from the Department of Special Collections: The Sixties: Remembering Who Was T/here

Image: Dennis Stock.  Spiritual Dancing during Construction at “Lama,” New Mexico, 1969.