Downtown Toronto’s Image Centre is digging deep for a restaging of Magnum’s First, the celebrated picture agency’s long-forgotten inaugural exhibition. It was shown at several Austrian venues in 1955-56 but never seen on this side of the Atlantic—until now.
On display will be 83 of the show’s original gelatin-silver prints. Magnum’s First features works by many of the 20th century’s most celebrated photojournalists—among them Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa, who co-founded Magnum in 1947 with George Rodger and David “Chim” Seymour. Other photographers in the show include Werner Bischof, Inge Morath, Ernst Haas, Marc Riboud, Jean Marquis and Erich Lessing.
The exhibition’s materials had laid dormant for a half-century in the basement of the Institut Français in Innsbruck, Austria, before being rediscovered in 2006. Included were a poster and hanging instructions for the show. The installation, originally titled Gesicht der Zeit (face of time), will be meticulously reconstructed for its Toronto debut.
“We are proposing a display respectful to the original,” says Gaëlle Morel, the Image Centre’s curator. “We are also including the original wooden crates, labels and introductory text.” She adds that there will be a new text included to “contextualise the exhibition and tell the story of the discovery. The exhibition is a nice opportunity to show how Magnum Photos decided to turn into a cultural institution in the 1950s with books and exhibitions; not just focusing on the illustrated press but expanding its activities beyond printed journalistic media.”
Inge Morath’s Eveleigh Nash at Buckingham Palace Mall, London, Great Britain (1953) © Inge Morath/Magnum Photos
Morel says that while she does not like to pick favourites, “Morath’s series on London shows a lot of wit and humour, while at the same time insisting on the rich-and-poor class divide. I find it very smart and well executed.” Included in the show are Morath’s Lloyds Bank and Eveleigh Nash at Buckingham Palace Mall (both 1953).
At the Image Centre, the rediscovered Magnum’s First will run concurrently with an exhibition devoted to one of Magnum’s founders. Chim’s Children of Europe will chronicle Seymour’s 1949 project, commissioned by Unesco, documenting the dire living conditions of young people in postwar Europe.
The Image Centre is a photography and art museum, part of Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). It opened in 2012 and occupies an old warehouse, since remodelled, on the university’s campus.
Magnum’s First, 10 September-13 December and 14 January 2026-4 April 2026, The Image Centre, TorontoChim’s Children of Europe, 10 September-13 December and 14 January 2026-4 April 2026, The Image Centre, Toronto
