Public Reception: September 10, 2025, 6 – 8pm

This fall, The Image Centre presents a season of landmark exhibitions that revisit the legacies of documentary photography while highlighting contemporary voices. From rediscovered Magnum works to emerging Toronto artists, these shows explore memory, resilience, and the power of images to shape how we see the world.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, [Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru announces Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, Delhi, India], 1948, gelatin silver print mounted on fiberboard. © Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

Magnum’s First

September 10 – December 13, 2025
Returning January 14 – April 4, 2026

In 1955, Magnum Photos organized its first group exhibition, Gesicht der Zeit (Face of Time), a powerful reflection of postwar life and resilience. Thought lost for over fifty years, the show was rediscovered in Austria in 2006. Now restaged for the first time in North America, Magnum’s First features eighty-three original prints by agency members including Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Inge Morath, and Ernst Haas. Presented in its original layout, the exhibition captures a defining moment in the history of photojournalism.

Organized in collaboration with Magnum Photos.

Explore Magnum’s First.

About the Artists:

The exhibition features work by Werner Bischof, Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ernst Haas, Erich Lessing, Jean Marquis, Inge Morath, and Marc Riboud.

Related Events:

Special Exhibition Tours with Gaëlle Morel
September 17, 2025, 6 – 7pm
November 19, 2025, 6 – 7pm
The Image Centre

Tanenbaum Lecture: Susan Meiselas
October 8, 2025, 7 – 8:30pm
Location TBC

Scholar Talk: Nadya Bair
November 5, 2025, 7 – 8:30pm
Location TBC

David “Chim” Seymour, [Terezka drawing “home” on blackboard, Poland], 1948, gelatin silver print. The Image Centre, Gift of Ben Shneiderman, 2022. © David Seymour Estate/Magnum Photos

Chim’s Children of Europe (1949)

September 10 – December 13, 2025
Returning January 14 – April 4, 2026

Commissioned by UNESCO in 1948, Magnum co-founder David “Chim” Seymour documented the lives of children across a devastated Europe. His series Children of Europe (1949) reveals both the hardship and resilience of young lives in Austria, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Poland. Drawing on The Image Centre’s collection, this exhibition offers a moving account of childhood in the wake of war and the role of photography in raising humanitarian awareness.

Explore Chim’s Children of Europe.

About the Artist:

David “Chim” Seymour (1911–1956) was a Polish-born photojournalist and co-founder of Magnum Photos. Known for his compassionate documentation of war’s impact on civilians, his work is held in major collections worldwide.

Related Events:

Special Exhibition Tours with Gaëlle Morel
September 17, 2025, 6 – 7pm
November 19, 2025, 6 – 7pm
The Image Centre

Ali Kazma, North, 2017, double-channel video (still). Courtesy of the artist

Ali Kazma: North

September 10 – December 13, 2025
Salah J. Bachir Media Wall

In this video diptych, Istanbul-based artist Ali Kazma turns his lens on Pyramiden, a former Soviet coal mining settlement on Norway’s Spitsbergen Island. Once a hub of industry, the town now lies abandoned, its empty barracks and halls overtaken by time. Kazma’s contemplative work reflects on memory, decay, and the endurance of nature through stillness, sound, and subdued colour.

Explore Ali Kazma: North.

About the Artist:

Ali Kazma (b. 1971, Turkey) is a video artist based in Paris and Istanbul. He has exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale (2013), São Paulo Biennial (2012), and Jeu de Paume, Paris (2017). His works are held by MoMA, Tate Modern, and Istanbul Modern.

Images (left to right): Isabella Della Penna, Boxed In, 2023, inkjet print. Jessica Berger, Smoke Break, inkjet print, 2024. Images courtesy of the artists.

Isabella Della Penna: Storms and Butterflies

September 10 – October 18, 2025
Student Gallery

Through surreal, storybook-like photographs, Isabella Della Penna explores psychological growth from childhood to adulthood. Her imagery reflects shifting inner landscapes, capturing themes of resilience, societal pressure, and hope amidst struggle.

Explore Isabella Della Penna: Storms and Butterflies.

About the Artist:

Isabella Adele Della Penna is an emerging Toronto-based photographer and cinematographer whose work spans portraiture, conceptual art, and commercial photography.

Jessica Berger: Lost & Found

October 29 – December 13, 2025
Opening Party: October 29, 2025, 6 – 8pm
Student Gallery

This exhibition reimagines girlhood through photography and collage, drawing on archives, ephemera, and staged portraits. Blending memory and identity, Jessica Berger reflects on growing up, particularly for queer individuals navigating femininity on their own terms. By revisiting the past, Berger reclaims girlhood as a site of agency and contradiction.

Explore Jessica Berger: Lost & Found.

About the Artist:

Jessica Berger is a Toronto-based artist and graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Photography program. Her work explores identity, memory, and connection through experimental portraiture and collage.

About The Image Centre

The Image Centre (IMC) is Canada’s leading institution dedicated to the exhibition, research, and collecting of photography. Established in 2012 at Toronto Metropolitan University, the IMC houses nearly 400,000 photographic objects and presents exhibitions by emerging, renowned, and anonymous photographers. For details, visit theimagecentre.ca.

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