Magnum Chronicles – GenZ

75 years ago, Robert Capa embarked on Magnum's most ambitious group project to date. Titled Generation X, after the "unknown generation," it was one of the agency's very first exercises in large-scale, collective visual storytelling, and the first to be coordinated internally. Capa's objective was to send the cooperative's photographers to the four corners of the world to portray the post-war generation. Asking them questions about their daily lives, upbringing, political leanings and aspirations for the future, the photographers aimed to highlight commonalities despite their disparate cultural contexts and living conditions.
The year was 1951, and the impact of the Second World War was still very much palpable. Tensions were rising with the Korean War raging and the omnipresent anxiety of the Cold War. Generation X was a chance to explore the zeitgeist among the younger generation in this post-war period, and in that sense, represented a glimpse into the future. Today, it presents a startling portal to the past, an intimate look at the thoughts and feelings of a previous generation — those who became our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. 
Now, in 2026, Magnum embarks on a modern-day equivalent—a global portrait of Generation Z. Many of the cooperative's photographers are working collaboratively with individuals between the ages of 14 and 29 in over 10 countries around the world, including Chien-Chi Chang in Taiwan, Myriam Boulos in Lebanon, Newsha Tavakolian in Iran, Cristina de Middel in Brazil, Emin Özmen in Colombia with Venezuelan refugees, Zied Ben Romdhane in Tunisia, Antonie d'Agata in Georgia, Sakir Khader in Palestine and Syria, and Salih Basheer with Sudanese refugees.
Their portraits and interviews will be published this summer in this year's edition of Magnum Chronicles, an annual publication by Magnum photographers that explores and interrogates contemporary global issues through independent documentary photography.