Magnum mine archive to launch celebration of the bicycle

The new photobook, entitled Magnum Cycling, celebrates “the great photographers who have captured the personalities, emotions and iconic moments from the sport of cycling,” Magnum said.
Published by Thames&Hudson, and edited by Guy Andrews, founder-editor of Rouleur magazine, Magnum Cycling brings together a spectrum of almost 200 colour and black and white images.

FRANCE. Paris. 1957. VÈlodrome d'Hiver. Six-day races.
FRANCE. Paris. 1957. VÈlodrome d’Hiver. Six-day races © Henri Cartier-Bresson
The photobook includes historic images from photographers including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, John Vink and Harry Gruyaert, incorporating iconic shots of the moment of victory to images of hundreds of lycra-clad cyclists hurtling down mountainscapes.
It includes images from the most-talked about races in cycling history, from the six-day races in Madison Square Garden in the 1930s to the latest Grand Tour races through France, Spain and Italy.
Organised thematically, each chapter in Magnum Cycling features one ‘story’ of an iconic moment, event or scene: from the Tour de France to track racing in Velodromes.
The featured photographers’ motivations vary from simple curiosity to intensely commissioned reportage.
BELGIUM. Antwerpen (Antwerpen). 12/02/1984.
BELGIUM. Antwerpen (Antwerp), 1984 © John Vink
“It’s no surprise that some of the world’s finest photographers have covered the sport at some point in their careers; cycling provides the perfect subject for reportage, social documentary and street photography, happening, as it does, in real time and out on the streets.
“Cycling and photography share interesting parallels, culturally and historically and the Magnum archive contains work that is exceptional on both points.”
Magnum Cycling is available from Thames&Hudson now. RRP £32.00. For more information visit here or Magnum.

Tom Seymour

Tom Seymour is an Associate Editor at The Art Newspaper and an Associate Lecturer at London College of Communication. His words have been published in The Guardian, The Observer, The New York Times, Financial Times, Wallpaper* and The Telegraph. He has won Writer of the Year and Specialist Writer of the year on three separate occassions at the PPA Awards for his work with The Royal Photographic Society.