Documentary photographer and president of Magnum photos, Cristina de Middel, has spoken out about the worrying use of AI, fighting sexism in the photography industry, and the threats to photojournalism.
For more than 70 years Magnum has been at the forefront of photography and storytelling, and this year with de Middel at the helm it received this year's Princess of Asturias Award for Concord – one of Spain's most prestigious prizes.
Speaking to Euro News at the awards ceremony, de Middel described the Magnum Agency as “a call to attention to the importance of having confidence in images, we are like an anchor in an increasingly visual society that needs to be able to trust images.”
Describing war photography as “a profession that is almost in danger of extinction", she cites disinformation caused by the misuse of AI as a big threat.
"There are fewer and fewer means, less money to tell stories with the depth they deserve," she explains. "The world is becoming much more complex to explain at the same time that there are far fewer means to do so.
"A 15-year-old with a computer can now easily create years of research, that is worrying for photography… and it is even more worrying for the audience".
Women have been active in photography since its conception, though the industry likes to forget that. Female photographers earn roughly half of what their male counterparts earn, get looked over for awards, and experience significant sexism.
Although she is self-critical and aware that she is president of an agency “that has less than 10% representation of women,” she does say that “things are changing, it is a slow process, the trend is good but it is going very slowly.”
De Middel became president of Magnum Photos in 2022, the first person from Spain to do so. Known to favor her Leica, she is best known for her 2012 photobook The Afronauts, about the short-lived Zambian space program in South Africa.
According to Magnum, the book:
“Explored the history of a failed space program in Zambia in the 1960s through staged re-enactments of obscure narratives, challenging the traditional depiction of the African continent.”
It quickly sold out, and de Middel was nominated for the 2013 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize.
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