Braying donkeys, kissing clowns and Marilyn’s dress mishap: Magnum sale – in pictures

From mambo dancers to Marilyn Monroe’s strap stunt, from strip shows to knocked-out boxers, the theme of Magnum’s Square Print Sale is spectacle. Step this way for the unusual and the unbelievable

Main image: Let us bray … Donkeys, Mardin, Turkey, 2021. Photograph: Emin Özmen/Magnum Photos

  • On the Set of The Planet of the Apes, 1967

    Magnum’s Spectacle theme refers to shows, performances, public displays or acts of theatre. It suggests something that we observe with curiosity, wonder or even contempt, from the breathtaking to the bizarre, the public to the personal. Over 80 signed or estate-stamped, museum-quality 6x6in prints will be available online for one week, priced from $110/£110/€120. Magnum’s Square Print Sale: Spectacle runs from 21 to 27 April. Buy this print
    On the Set of The Planet of the Apes, 1967

  • Cast of West Side Story, 1960

    Rita Moreno and George Chakiris are among the couples dancing the mambo in the school dance scene from the famous screen musical, winner of 10 Academy awards. Buy this print
    Cast of West Side Story, 1960

  • Circus Medrano, Paris, 1936

    ‘In his exploration of Paris during the 1930s, David Seymour photographed butchers in Les Halles, striking factory workers and funeral attendees at Père Lachaise cemetery,’ writes his nephew Ben Shneiderman. ‘A lighter mood emerges in his photographs of the Cirque Medrano, which has long inspired artists such as Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Edgar Degas.’ Buy this print
    Circus Medrano, Paris, 1936

  • Cinema in Battipaglia, Outskirts of Naples, 1956

    From the estate of Thomas Hoepker comes this ode to one of the playgrounds of spectacle, the cinema. Here we see a group of children peering into a Cinema Paradiso-esque theatre in 1970s Battipaglia, one of the recently rediscovered images from his early Italian archives. Buy this print
    Cinema in Battipaglia, Outskirts of Naples, 1956

  • The Clown, Turkey, 2022

    These images ask us to consider: what is it that we collectively celebrate, fear and desire? What do we make of the performances in which we are both the audience and the actors? Spectacle is not only a visual feast; it is a meditation on the ways in which we are both the creators and the captivated. Buy this print
    The Clown, Turkey, 2022

  • Big 4 Ranch, Nevada, 2024

    ‘Nevada is the only US state where sex work is permitted, although demand is on the wane,’ writes photographer Mark Power. ‘In the former mining town of Ely, I plucked up the courage to ring the bell outside the Big 4 Ranch, one of only 19 legalised brothels that remain, and the oldest in the state. I noticed this scene, a little dog as excited to get outside as I’d been to get in.’ Buy this print
    Big 4 Ranch, Nevada, 2024

  • Mardin, Turkey, 2021

    Donkeys, essential companions for nomads, are tied up near the tents before nightfall. Buy this print
    Mardin, Turkey, 2021

  • Mexico City, Mexico, 2003

    During the mid-1970s, Alex Webb photographed in the American south, documenting small-town life. He also began working in the Caribbean and Mexico. ‘I only know how to approach a place by walking,’ says Webb. ‘For what does a street photographer do but walk and watch and wait and talk, trying to remain confident that the unexpected, the unknown or the secret heart of the known awaits just around the corner?’ Buy this print
    Mexico City, Mexico, 2003

  • The Waldorf Astoria Ballroom, New York, 1956

    This was taken at a press conference to announce the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl, with Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier. ‘Halfway through, one of the very thin straps on Monroe’s dress broke and there was pandemonium as everyone clamoured to find a safety pin,’ says Michael Arnold, Eve Arnold’s grandson. ‘Afterwards, Monroe winked at Eve. She had planned the mishap to create a scene.’ Buy this print
    The Waldorf Astoria Ballroom, New York, 1956

  • Crazy Legs Saloon in Watertown, New York, 2012

    ‘I fell in love with the process of taking pictures, with wandering around finding things,’ says Alec Soth. ‘To me it feels like a kind of performance. The picture is a document of that performance.’ Buy this print
    Crazy Legs Saloon in Watertown, New York, 2012

  • Brittany, France, 1939

    A crowd gathered in front of Pierre Cloarec’s bicycle shop. The owner of the shop was racing in the Tour de France. Buy this print
    Brittany, France, 1939

  • Ravens at Night, Buffalo, New York, 2004-2023

    This is from a series of pictures called King, Queen, Knave, inspired by Buffalo, New York, the photographer’s hometown, made over the course of 20 years. Buy this print
    Ravens at Night, Buffalo, New York, 2004-2023

  • Yucatán, Mexico, 2024

    Released in 2024, Cristina de Middel’s series of photographs Journey to the Center investigates phenomena related to the migration route through Mexico to California, with an atmosphere and symbolism inspired by Jules Verne’s famous novel Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Buy this print
    Yucatán, Mexico, 2024

  • The Star and the New Girl at Work, Casa del Rio, Tunbridge, Vermont, 1975

    A rare colour image from Susan Meiselas’s seminal Carnival Strippers series, originally a photo essay following the women who performed in traveling ‘girl shows’ in the US from 1972 to 1975. Meiselas photographed the carnivals during three consecutive summers, while teaching photography in New York public schools. Buy this print
    The Star and the New Girl at Work, Casa del Rio, Tunbridge, Vermont, 1975

  • Controlled Burn, Wynne, Arkansas, 2021

    Photographer Jim Goldberg says: ‘I have the great privilege of being both witness and storyteller.’ Buy this print
    Controlled Burn, Wynne, Arkansas, 2021

  • Frida Kahlo in Her Home, Mexico, 1954

    Kahlo at the ‘Casa Azul’ in Coyoacán, Mexico City, where she was born and spent the last 13 years of her life. Buy this print
    Frida Kahlo in Her Home, Mexico, 1954

  • New York City, 1949

    A bird’s eye perspective of visitors to the Empire State Building’s viewing balcony. Buy this print
    New York City, 1949

  • Revue Paris Line, Casino de Paris, 1979

    The Paris Line revue was created by French actor and singer Line Renaud, a popular star at the time, alongside Jean Bauchet, the director of the Casino de Paris, and Loulou Gaste, a composer and Renaud’s husband. Buy this print
    Revue Paris Line, Casino de Paris, 1979
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