Seymour, David. David Seymour - "Chim"

Paragraphic Books, Division of Grossman Publishers, 1966. Edited by Anna Farova. Introduction with biography by Judith Friedberg.  Cornell Capa and Sam Holmes, Associate Editors.  About 87 pages including 64 with illustrations. Includes portraits of some well known people, including Pablo Picasso, André Malraux, Irene and Frederic Joliot-Curie, Romain Roland, Bernard Berenson, Bertrand Russell, Arturo Toscanini, and Peggy Guggenheim. Most of the others are reportage taken in France, Italy, Spain, and Greece.  Wraps, wear at top of spine, creases on cover. Covers curling. Very good minus.  Excellent compilation of black and white photos by Chim, one of the founders of Magnum. Summary:

David Seymour – “Chim” (published by Paragraphic Books in 1966) is a photographic monograph devoted to the work of David Seymour (1911–1956), the Polish‑born photojournalist better known by his nickname Chim. Although it does not include an extensive narrative biography, the book assembles over sixty black‑and‑white photographs that represent the breadth and depth of Seymour’s vision and influence as one of the most important documentary photographers of the mid‑20th century.

Subject and Scope

• The volume showcases Seymour’s photojournalistic images, illustrating his humanist approach to subjects ranging from war and its aftermath to everyday life and portraiture. While specific portfolios likely vary by print, these photographs reflect the empathetic eye that made Chim renowned for his portrayal of individuals—especially children—affected by conflict and social upheaval.

• Many of these images derive from his career covering major events such as the Spanish Civil War, post‑World War II Europe, and other significant historical moments, where his work combined documentary urgency with personal engagement with his subjects.

Contributors and Presentation

• The book includes an introduction by Judith Friedberg and was edited by Anna Farova, with contributions such as a remembrance by fellow photographer Henri Cartier‑Bresson. These contextual writings help situate Seymour’s photos within both his life and the broader cinematic and journalistic traditions of the period.

• Designed as a compact softcover monograph, the publication emphasizes the photographs themselves, allowing readers to engage directly with Chim’s visual record rather than with an extensive textual biography.

Significance

By focusing on his imagery and including commentary from distinguished contemporaries, David Seymour – “Chim”offers a visual tribute to an influential photographer whose work helped define modern photojournalism—particularly its human rights‑oriented and empathetic strains—and whose legacy continues to shape how photographers document society and conflict.

David Seymour (1911–1956), born Dawid Szymin and universally known by his pseudonym "Chim," was a pioneering Polish-born photojournalist best known for his deeply empathetic coverage of human conflict and co-founding Magnum Photos in 1947 alongside Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and George Rodger. Raised in Warsaw by a family of Hebrew and Yiddish publishers, he moved to Paris in the early 1930s to study science, but turned to freelance photography to support himself, adopting the name "Chim" as a French approximation of his surname. He gained early international acclaim documenting the Spanish Civil War, the French Popular Front, and political turmoil across Europe. Following service as a photo interpreter for the U.S. Army during World War II—a conflict in which both of his parents were murdered by the Nazis—Chim undertook a landmark UNESCO commission in 1948 photographing Europe's traumatized war children, producing haunting and sensitive portraits that became defining images of post-war recovery. Celebrated for his gentle demeanor, sharp intelligence, and knack for capturing the human dimension of geopolitical crisis, Seymour served as president of Magnum Photos from 1954 until his tragic death in 1956, when he was killed by machine-gun fire while covering an exchange of prisoners during the Suez Crisis.