Reporting through a lens

For the last half century, the prestigious Magnum photo agency has enlisted the world's most respected documentary photographers to shoot news stories from every corner of the globe.

Magnum Stories, a new book, examines how 61 of the most prestigious Magnum names approached, took, edited and laid out their best-known work.

Magnum's founder members, such as Robert Capa, George Rodger and Henri Cartier-Bresson, as well as later generations, including Renè Burri, Steve McCurry and Martin Parr, are well represented.

Each contributes a photostory of their choice, accompanied by a personal memoir of how the images came to be. Some of the more striking accounts cover the Vietnam War, Pablo Picasso, Malcolm X, Gandhi's funeral and post-war Iraq.

As well as looking back at classic photojournalism, Magnum Stories also explores the influences that have affected the nature of the photostory, including how publications such as Newsweek and Time have influenced the importance of the discipline.

Magnum Stories, by Chris Boot, published by Phaidon, £45 hardback.