Magnum Photos was founded in New York on 22 May 1947, and soon became the most famous photo agency in the world.
Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, David 'Chim' Seymour and William Vandivert founded the agency, with the common aim of protecting their photographs and retaining complete control over the use of their images.
The first reportages were carried out by assigning different geographical areas of the world to the founders: the Orient to Cartier-Bresson, Europe to Seymour, America to Vandivert, the Middle East and Africa to Rodger, with Capa being free to cover the whole world.