“I have led a double life as a photographer—one in black-and-white and one in color.” For decades, René Burri (1933–2014) always took at least two 35mm cameras with him on his travels: one for black-and-white, the other for color. Burri’s turn to color was not entirely voluntary, as color photography was frowned upon in the early days of his career, especially by fellow-members of the Magnum Agency. But new printing processes meant that magazines were becoming more and more colorful, so that publishers began to demand more color pictures, especially with a view to boosting advertising income. The work Suez Canal was produced in October 1956 during the Suez crisis between Egypt and an alliance of Israel, France, and Great Britain. In his picture, Burri stages five air cowls on the crimson upper deck of a ship in a silent ballet. They look like mute sentinels bending an ear to what is happening out in the desert as the ship glides calmly through the embattled canal.
20% discount for members of the Circle of Friends.