From roarsome motorists to indoor beaches, these fascinating images blur fact and fiction – and are available to buy in the Magnum store
Fast and furry-ous … Elliott Erwitt’s California, 1956. Photograph: Elliott Erwitt/MAGNUM PHOTOS
Tue 27 Oct 2026 08.00 CET
El brindis, 2000, by Alessandra SanguinettiThe latest Magnum Square Print Sale, called Fact/Fiction, presents images that explore the fine line between reality and imagination. It runs until 1 November; prints can be bought at the Magnum store or by clicking the individual link on each caption. The series, The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of Their Dreams, by Alessandra Sanguinetti, invites viewers to challenge their perception and consider the many ways photography shapes our experience of the world. Buy this print. All photographs: Magnum PhotosPhotograph: Alessandra SanguinettiThe Artificial beach inside the Ocean Dome, Miyazaki, Japan, 1996, by Martin ParrOffering work by Martin Parr, Eve Arnold and other famous names, the selection blurs the boundaries between truth and appearance, how things feel and how they are. Buy this printPhotograph: Martin ParrCalifornia, USA, 1956, by Elliott ErwittElliott Erwitt said: ‘It’s about reacting to what you see, hopefully without preconception. You can find pictures anywhere. It’s simply a matter of noticing things and organising them. You just have to care about what’s around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy.’ Buy this printPhotograph: Elliott ErwittMarilyn Monroe, Hollywood, California, 1952, by Philippe HalsmanPhilippe Halsman said: ‘If the photograph of a human being does not show a deep psychological insight, it is not a true portrait but an empty likeness. Therefore my main goal in portraiture is neither composition, nor play of light, nor showing the subject in front of a meaningful background, nor creation of a new visual image. All these elements can make an empty picture a visually interesting image, but in order to be a portrait the photograph must capture the essence of its subject.’ Buy this printPhotograph: Philippe HalsmanItacaré, Bahía, Brazil, 2019-2020, by Cristina de MiddelCristina de Middel says: ‘Reality has become increasingly difficult to locate. Truth has lost its competitive advantage and identity is now built inside an infinite room of mirrors, through the eyes of others, through images, through the images of others looking at our images. At some point, knowing which reflection came first stops being that important. Maybe fiction is not the opposite of reality any more. Maybe it is just a way of finding our way through it.’ Buy this printPhotograph: Cristina de MiddelOne of four girls who share a flat in Knightsbridge, 1961, by Eve ArnoldMichael Arnold, from the Eve Arnold Estate, says: ‘Eve made this photograph for a Sunday Times story titled “Women Without Men”, which brought together very different female lives – from young women sharing a London flat, to nuns and a lesbian wedding. The photograph is documentary, yet the title creates its own narrative. Who were “women without men”, and what did that description actually tell us about their lives? Eve’s intimate photograph seems to resist the simplicity of the label.’ Buy this printPhotograph: Eve ArnoldA hand affected by Dupuytren’s contracture wrapped in cobwebs, France, 2024, by Olivia ArthurMichael Sargeant, global director, digital projects and e-commerce at Magnum, says: ‘Since Nicéphore Niépce made the first permanent photograph 200 years ago, the ways we use photography have morphed, evolved and shifted, and so too has the way we interpret photographs.’ Buy this printPhotograph: Olivia ArthurPlaster Mask, Santorini (Thíra), Greece, 1937, by Herbert ListSays Sargeant: ‘This theme, Fact/Fiction, explores the many ways photographers and artists use the medium today, whether documenting history in the making, or presenting life in heightened, cinematic ways. The images brought together in this sale touch on these approaches, and on the space that exists between them.’ Buy this printPhotograph: Herbert ListSydney, Australia, 2006, by Trent ParkeUnlike other sales, which limit prints by quantity, the Square Print Sale limits by time, meaning you have only one week to buy the 6x6 inch prints. Each print is signed by the photographer themselves, or stamped by the estate, making them a collector’s item offered at the accessible price point of $110/£110/€120. What began as an experiment for the photography community has, over the past decade, grown into a biannual creative collaboration, bringing together Magnum photographers, staff and partners in a celebration of image-making. Buy this printPhotograph: Trent ParkeOnce Upon a Night, Seoul, South Korea, 2004, by Patrick ZachmannEmpty booth seating in Seoul sits before a foggy window lit by colourful neon signs. This image is taken from the series Once Upon a Night. Buy this printPhotograph: Patrick ZachmannAlaska State Fair, 2001, by Ian BerryCowboys wait to compete in a rodeo. You can see more of Ian Berry’s work in this gallery. Buy this printPhotograph: Ian BerryCompañía Cirabana circus, Havana, Cuba, 2026, by Moises SamanYoung performers from the Compañía Cirabana circus train inside a deteriorating former theatre in central Havana. The group, made up of children and teenagers from at-risk families, rehearses acrobatics and juggling routines with limited equipment, relying on donations to sustain their activities. As Cuba faces a prolonged economic crisis marked by shortages of food, fuel and basic services, frequent blackouts and limited access to electricity have made training conditions more difficult, with little ventilation inside the space. Buy this printPhotograph: Moises SamanShooting of a pornographic movie, Los Angeles, California, 1995, by Paolo PellegrinPaolo Pellegrin says: ‘I’m more interested in a photography that is “unfinished” – a photography that is suggestive and can trigger a conversation or dialogue. There are pictures that are closed, finished, to which there is no way in.’ Buy this printPhotograph: Paolo PellegrinHeat reflector, Arizona desert, 1980, by David HurnYou can see more work by David Hurn in this gallery. Buy this printPhotograph: David HurnSophia Loren, on the balcony of her apartment in Rome, Italy, 1955, by David SeymourBen Shneiderman, nephew of photographer David Seymour, says: ‘He recalled this photo session with Sophia Loren, when she was still a budding actress: “I explained what I wanted over the phone. She invited me over for an early Sunday morning meeting. I found her in bed in a dark blue negligee. She got up and changed; we went to a covered balcony of her apartment and I had nothing else to do but record a stream of poses which somehow met my memory of wartime pin-ups.’ Buy this printPhotograph: David SeymourStorage yard of presidential heads, Houston, Texas, 2018, by Mark PowerThis head was sculpted by David Adickes for two theme parks, in South Dakota and Virginia. Both parks are now closed. You can see more of Mark Power’s work in this gallery. Buy this printPhotograph: Mark PowerLambton County, Ontario, Canada, 1999, by Larry TowellNoah Towell holds a cat while his brother Isaac has an adopted starling that fell from its nest on his shirt. See more images of childhood here. Buy this printPhotograph: Larry TowellSiirt, Turkey, 2019, by Emin ÖzmenGoats roam through an abandoned house in Tille village, which people were forced to leave because of the Ilısu government dam project. Buy this printPhotograph: Emin OzmenBangkok, Thailand, 2008, by Jacob Aue SobolJacob Aue Sobol says: ‘When I photograph, I try to use my instincts as much as possible. It is when pictures are unconsidered and irrational that they come to life; that they evolve from showing to being.’ Buy this printPhotograph: Jacob Aue SobolTimes Square, New York City, 2005, by Constantine ManosConstantine Manos said: ‘The flow of people in a setting, their changing relationships to each other and their environment, and their constantly changing expressions and movements – all combine to create dynamic situations that provide the photographer with limitless choices of when to push the button.’ Buy this print Photograph: Constantine ManosView through the windows of the old ‘non-white’ section of Cape Town station, South Africa, 2023, by Mikhael SubotzkyMikhael Subotzky says: ‘I have long been fascinated by this stained glass window. After visiting the site many times, I decided that, rather than document the experience of being in that building looking out, I’d combine opposing views in one composite image. The exterior frames vary in scale to reflect the actual experience of looking through the windows at slightly varying distances from the apertures, and with attention to different aspects of the landscape.’ Buy this printPhotograph: Mikhael SubotzkyScarecrows being stored, Japan, 1998, by Chris Steele-PerkinsScarecrows dressed in clothing and hats stand in a row beneath a huge boulder on a hillside. Buy this printPhotograph: Chris Steele-Perkins
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