It might feel a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but there’s only four more days to get your hands on a museum-quality print from one of the world’s leading photographers. (Which, according to the website, will ship no later than 14 December).
The November 2018 Square Print Sale in partnership with Apeture has over 100 images available to buy, signed or estate stamped, from some of the world’s leading photographers, featuring new gen stars like Tyler Mitchell, Paul Mpagi Sepuya and Ethan James Green, to OG icons like Nan Goldin, Martin Parr and Mary Ellen Mark. Entitled Crossings, the images contemplate the literal and metaphorical boundaries in which humans live — from the vast oceans that divide our land to small acts of revolt and rebellion which break social boundaries.
Spanning decades and different countries, as a set Crossings feels like a timely commentary on our increasingly fractured world, yet individually, each picture tells its own unique and powerful story. “The resulting selection of works is at the crossroads of documentary and conceptual practices. Celebrating the singular authorship of each artist, the curation encapsulates the diversity of practices found within photography,” says Apeture.
Take a look below at some of the images and stories that accompany them.
Ethan James Green, Three Boys In Maheshwar, India. 2018
“I started a series documenting men’s style around the world, and my first stop was India. This portrait was taken in the temple square in Maheshwar, busy during a festival. I was drawn to these three guys together. There was something alternative about them. They reminded me of myself when I was younger, all serious about doing the hair and the clothes. And they were the only ones doing it. I found it interesting the way they threw their arms around each other, in a place where male friendships seem to be expressed much more intimately than they are in the United States. I like this picture too because, when you look for a moment, you see that they all have smartphones in their hands. This detail seems right. Boys the same age all over the world who see this picture will understand exactly what’s going on and relate to it.”
Nan Goldin, Drugs On The Rug. New York City, USA. 2016
“I was addicted to OxyContin for four years. I overdosed but I came back. I decided to make the personal political. I’ve started a group called P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) to address the opioid crisis. We are a group of artists, activists and addicts that believe in direct action. We target the Sackler family, who manufactured and pushed OxyContin, through the museums and universities that carry their name. We speak for the 250,000 bodies that no longer can.”
Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Mirror Study Excerpt (0X5A7457). 2018.
“This image comes from a body of work related to Mirror Studies. The suggestive and overlapping meanings in the term ‘darkroom’ lie at the centre of my current work. It is both the historical origin of the photographer’s craft as well as the privileged, yet marginalised, site of queer and coloured sexuality and socialisation. The black velvet backdrop of the photographer’s studio not only grounds the subject in front of it, but it also creates an anterior space of another potential encounter. Within my photographs, I, or my stand-in, inhabit the obscuring fabric. I move from in front of the camera to behind it, reflected in the mirror. I am interested in inhabiting an ambiguous place within these photographs. My role as photographer is one of negotiation–oscillating between the precision of the photographic apparatus and loss of rationality within erotic excess.”
Tyler Mitchell, Untitled (Twins). Brooklyn, USA. 2016.
“This image was shot in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn. I set out with an image in my head of black masculine freedom emanating from the pictures. And specifically, a fictional image of black men having a full and free range of expression. This started with adorning these two twins, Torey and Khorey, in pearls, fabrics, and natural light to create a world where documentary and fantasy intersect.”
‘Crossings’ Magnum’s Square Print Sale in Partnership with Aperture runs from 9AM Monday 29 October until midnight EST Friday 2 November 2018. Signed and estate stamped, museum quality, 6×6” prints from over 100 artists are exceptionally available for $100, for 5 days only, from shop.magnumphotos.com.