This third part of the famous photographers’ series, I wanted to look at the story of David Seymour, one of the founders of the world’s most famous photography agency Magnum Photos. His story will take you. Let me start over, come on and follow me.
David Seymour-Chim
David Syzmin was born in 1911 in Warsaw. He went to Leipzig-Germany to continue his education. Here, at Akademia der Graphichen und Buch Küenste (Graphic and Book Arts Academy), he received the best education of his time in book making. David specialized in new color printing techniques used in book making. He graduated from his school in 1931 and began studying advanced chemistry and physics at Paris Sorbonne. He started helping David Rappaport’s small photo agency called Photo-Rap so he could stay in Paris. With no previous experience, David began experimenting, photographing things he found interesting on the street. The first contact prints caught Rappaport’s attention, and soon he started selling David’s photos to newspapers and magazines.
In 1933, David would write to his friend Emma in Warsaw: “Today I have completed my first year in Paris. I am a reporter, or even a photojournalist. The news I reported, appeared recently in Paris Soir (about the metro). Regards will publish two of my big news. In short, I am satisfied with myself because I work well. I started to spend more of my time among photographers, thinking people, people who were interested in subjects that I was also interested in. We are trying to organize a formation of revolutionary minded people together.”
David’s first photo on credit was published in Regards in March 1934. Beneath the photographs, David was using the signature “Chim”, a French phonetic abbreviation for his last name. Regards has a very important place in Chim’s photography life. The magazine had a humanist and leftist line. Although similar to other magazines covered different topics such as politics, entertainment, sports, it was mainly concerned with the plight of the economic and social life of the French working class and raising awareness on this issue.
The “trio” that form the basis of Magnum coming together
The cafes of the West Side of Paris were like the home of immigrant intellectuals like Chim. Here, David met Andre Freidman (aka Robert Capa), a Hungarian immigrant. The similar fate they shared because of their Eastern European roots and anti-Semitism was the first vehicle to begin a friendship and co-operation that would last for years.
Meanwhile, Chim has made other new friends. He was invited to a group of left-wing writers and photographers organized by Louis Aragon, who was the managing editor of the communist newspaper Ce Soir in addition to his work at the Regards. He met Henri Cartier-Bresson at one of the meetings held in this group. “Leica” hanging around their neck helped them meet and engage in a deep conversation. Chim then introduced his two new friends with each other, Bresson and Capa.
The trio, which formed the basis of Magnum, thus came together during the difficult years of Europe. The three of them rented a studio together.
Spanish Civil War and its effects on Chim’s future
In 1936, the already tense atmosphere in Europe had become even harsher. Regards sent Chim to Spain to view the developments with writer George Soria. Chim traveled to Spain’s poorest region, Extremadura, where he photographed landless peasants occupying fallow lands.
In the same year, civil war broke out in Spain. Chim, Capa and Capa’s girlfriend Gerda Taro were in Spain at this time. While Capa and Gerda were working on the front, mostly in hot conflict; Chim photographed the rear of the front; the Catalan factories, which are vital to the republicans, Basque anglers and Basque people preparing for war. On April 26, 1937, German planes bombed Guernica, one of the historical cities of the Basque region. Picasso then made his famous painting, “Guernica” immortalizing this terrible event. Chim also photographed the artist in front of his painting, which will be exhibited for the first time.
Franco’s fascist troops won the war. Chim ended his work in Spain by filming Republican soldiers and civilian refugees immigrating to France. Twenty-five stories from Chim’s works in Spain were published in Regards. In addition, his work in bombarded Barcelona also appeared in Life. During the Spanish civil war, Chim learned to form his own ideas and stories away from his editors in Paris.
Welcome to New York
After the Second World War broke out, Chim went to New York. Here, they opened a joint darkroom with German immigrant photographer Leo Cohn. The location of the dark room on 42nd Street in New York was very close to the headquarters of Life and other magazines. Their customers were the names André Kertesz and Philippe Halsman. Chim did not cut ties with immigrant intellectuals in New York, in the meantime he used his chemistry knowledge and did a great job in the dark room.
He was enlisted in the army in October 1942. He was found inadequate for the front due to a problem with his eyes and was taken to the photography department. His entry into the army enabled him to become a US citizen. He then changed his name to David Robert Seymour.
He returned to photography in the spring of 1947. He went to Europe to work on the “We Went Back” project, which was carried out in cooperation with This Week and CBS to mark the second anniversary of the end of the war. While thinking of returning to America when he was finished, he received a telegram from Maria Eisner that says; “you are the vice president of Magnum Photos Inc.”
And then what happened? Follow me and find out!
Anıl Uzun
Note: In this blog post, I get help from the famous book of Russell Miller and the website of The International Center of Photography (ICP). If you want to take a look here is the info; Miller, Russell. Magnum: Fifty Years at the Front Line of History, Grove Pres, New York, 1997. ICP: www.icp.org.