Magnum Photos has sold its US collection of 185,000 press prints to a private investment firm, owned by Dell Inc's founder, after a three-year search for a buyer.

The archives, representing 60 years of history, will be transferred to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas where they will be preserved, catalogued and made accessible for the next five years.

Michael Dell, who founded the personal computer company that bears his name, attended the University of Texas in the early 1980s, and has in the past donated more than $50m to the institution. Now, his private investment firm, MSD Capital, has acquired the Magnum Photos archives dating from as far back as the 1930s.

Only the US archives have been sold, with a Magnum photographer telling BJP that archives located in London and Paris are not part of the transaction.

The US archives contains images shot by Magnum photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Elliott Erwitt, Leonard Freed, Bruce Davidson, Rene Burri, Eve Arnold, Dennis Stock and more than 80 others, the agency says. It contains 'images of icons from Picasso to Marilyn Monroe, from Sinatra to Gandhi, and from Castro to a young Queen Elizabeth', which coexist in the collection with depictions of international conflicts, political unrest and cultural strife. Capa's famous images from the Spanish Civil War and the D-Day landings are also included in the archives.

However, as part of the transaction's terms and conditions, Magnum photographers will retain the copyright over all of their images. 'Only the press prints have been sold,' says Jonathan Roquemore of Magnum in New York. Until the digital age, press prints were used for reproduction purposes. The prints were loaned to newspapers and magazines for publication, and returned to the agency after use.

'Because the industry has changed so much, people don't send out prints now,' Magnum's president Alex Webb tells BJP. 'These were sitting there as a kind of historical record. They represent 60 years of world history, but also 60 years of Magnum history.'

In 2006, Magnum started to look at ways to benefit from the collection, with the concept of a sale approved in June that year during Magnum's Annual General Meeting. A three-year search for a suitor followed, as the agency wanted an owner who would agree to keep the collection intact, Webb tells BJP. 'It has a specific value to us,' he says. 'We wanted it to be kept together as one unit, and it needed to be going to a place that is very conscious of the value this archive has. It's our heritage.'

Magnum's managing director Mark Lubell took the lead in the negotiations. 'Like most things within Magnum, the photographers provide an overview, but that doesn't mean everyone is involved,' says Webb. 'Mark Lubell received advice from some photographers that are knowledgeable in these matters.'

'We spoke to a range of interested parties,' adds Roquemore. One of them was MSD Capital, which Magnum approached 'with this investment opportunity given their reputation as strong investment partners and their well-established interest in the arts.' MSD Capital is managed by Michael Dell, John Phelan and Glenn Fuhrman - all three of whom are art collectors.

Integral to this transaction is the Harry Ransom Center's involvement. The humanities research library and museum in the University of Texas at Austin will catalogue and promote the collection through 'scholarly research, fellowships, lectures and exhibitions,' Magnum says. The Center will also host visits and programs with Magnum photographers.

'Housing the collection at the Ransom Center not only allows this archive to be studied by photographers but also helps satisfy the huge interest in it among historians, anthropologists, curators, journalists and the public at large,' says Lubell. 'Through this arrangement, we are able to acknowledge, celebrate and preserve Magnum's historic past.'

Thomas Staley, director of the Ransom Center, adds: 'This is a singularly valuable collection in the history of photography. It brings together some of the finest photojournalists of the profession and spans more than a half century of contributions to the medium. We are delighted to make these remarkable materials accessible to researchers and students.'

Magnum and MSD will both be financially contributing to the center to help promote the collection, Roquemore tells BJP. MSD and the Center will draw revenue from any event and any supporting catalogue created using archival press prints. 'But Magnum will not receive any revenue from these,' says Roquemore.

However, it remains unclear when the first event will be held. 'The materials recently arrived at the Center and need to be assessed before a timeline for accessibility is determined,' says Roquemore.

'The Ransom Center will make the collection accessible as soon as possible, and it is now its priority.'

For more information on the colection, visit magnumphotos.com.

Photographers' copyright

A few hours after the deal between Magnum Photos and MSD Capital was formally announced, the photo agency was forced to reassure the photographic community that the transaction would not threaten Magnum's heritage.

As part of the transaction, Magnum photographers will retain the copyright over all of their images, says Jonathan Roquemore of Magnum in New York. In fact, the agency hasn't, in essence, sold any of its images, but only press prints that have been 'sitting' unused on shelves for the past decade.

Moreover, the agency and its photographers are set to benefit from the deal. 'Magnum will share the proceeds of this sale with the photographers, who will receive a fee proportionate with the numbers of images they have in this collection,' says Roquemore. 'The agency will also re-invest in its current distribution platform, as well as new media initiatives such as Magnum in Motion.' The remainder will be used to finance new photographic production.

The photographers should also benefit from increased media coverage in the next five years. The Harry Ransom Center has pledged to hold a series of events, seminars and exhibitions using the press prints it received. Magnum photographers will be invited to participate in these events. 'This is a pivotal investment in a historical collection,' says Magnum.

Archiving history

The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas has a long history of acquiring and preserving cultural materials such as rare books, photography and films. In 1963 it acquired the Gersheim Collection, one of the largest privately-held photography archives. Among it was the 'first permanent photograph' by Joseph Nicephore Niepce dating from 1826-1827.

The Gersheim Collection includes images by Ansel Adams, Bill Brandt and Walker Evans, among many others.

The Center also holds the archives of photographers such as Fritz Henle, Russell Lee, W.D. Smithers, Roger Fenton, Jacob Riis, Lewis Hine, as well as 42 prints by Magnum photographer Eve Arnold.

Now, and for the next five years, the Center will add to its collection prints from some of the world's most renowned photojournalists. The collection has been insured for $100m. After five years, MSD Capital, which owns the prints, will be free to re-evaluate the deal and the Harry Ransom Center's involvement.