Archives. I am not all that knowledgeable about them. But Magnum has just sold its press print archives (through 1998) to
MSD Capital (D stands for Dell, stands for computer) who have had them shipped to the University of Texas where they will be housed. Reports are
here at
PDN and
here at
The New York Times. Such purchases of cultural/historical resources by the wealthy is obviously nothing new. But it always makes me slightly nervous. According to the
PDN report
MSD "has purchased only Magnum’s press prints, not licensing or resale rights to the images" while Magnum "still holds all negatives and contact sheets." This sounds like a complicated legal arrangement and the question of who holds rights to what is important in terms of the control of public access and, ultimately, public memory.
