Sygma (agency)

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Sygma (formally known as Agence Presse Sygma or Sygma Photo News) was a French photo agency. [1] Sygma was established in 1973, was acquired by Corbis in 1999, and went bankrupt in 2011. [2] [3] It was one of the largest and leading photo agencies, [2] [3] [4] with offices in Paris, London and New York City, and about 500 photographers under contract. [5]

Contents

Sygma's archive of 50 million objects is stored at the Sygma Preservation and Access Facility in Garnay near Paris.

History

Sygma was founded in 1973 by Hubert Henrotte  [ Wikidata ] (co-founder of the Gamma agency) and other photographers from Gamma [4] [6] [7] including Eliane Laffont [8] and Jean-Pierre Laffont.

It was one of the largest and leading photo agencies, [2] [3] [4] [9] with offices in Paris, London and New York City, and about 500 photographers under contract. [5]

It was acquired by Bill Gates' Corbis in 1999 [6] [10] and the new organisation was called Corbis Sygma. [1]

Sygma declared bankruptcy and shut down operations in 2011 when it could not afford to pay damages resulting from a court case. [2]

Members of Sygma (1973–1999)

Sygma Preservation and Access Facility

Sygma's archive includes 50 million objects from the second half of the 20th century. [21] It is stored at the Sygma Preservation and Access Facility, a dedicated facility in Garnay, near Paris, established in 2009. [4] [22] [23] [24] [25]

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 Sofri, Luca (21 May 2010). "Sygma photo agency shuts down". HuffPost . Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  3. 1 2 3 Haughney, Christine (12 October 2000). "Photojournalists Balk at Sygma's Digital-Age Terms". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2018-04-27 via www.washingtonpost.com.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Sygma archive". The Guardian. 24 April 2007. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2018-04-27 via www.theguardian.com.
  5. 1 2 "Gates Adds Sygma to 'Net Archive'". New York Post. 17 June 1999. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  6. 1 2 Goldsmith, Charles; Barrett, Amy. "Gates's Corbis Enters News Business By Buying French Photo Agency Sygma". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  7. "Iconic French photo agency on the brink of collapse". France 24 . Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  8. Lieberman, Allyson (17 June 1999). "Gates adds Sygma to 'net archive'". nypost.com. New York Post. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  9. Warren, Lynne (15 November 2005). Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography, 3-Volume Set. Routledge. ISBN   9781135205430 via Google Books.
  10. "Corbis to Acquire A Photo Agency". The New York Times. 15 June 1999. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-04-27 via NYTimes.com.
  11. "A Photojournalist's Tale of Woe" . Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  12. "Bill Gates v. Photojournalists". Consortiumnews . 22 September 2011. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  13. "Stuart Franklin • Photographer Profile • Magnum Photos". Magnum Photos. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  14. "Opposing views - Canon Professional Network". Canon Inc. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
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  16. p.32, "40 Ans de Photo-journalisme, Génération Sygma" by Michel Setboun and Marie Cousin, Martiniére, Paris. (2013)
  17. "Gérard Rancinan: Artiste photographe contemporain". Galerie Tony Rocfort. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  18. "Biography: Sebastião Salgado". The Guardian . 11 September 2004. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  19. "Editorial Photographers UK - They Killed My Agency: Corbis-Sygma Deal In Ruins". www.epuk.org. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  20. "Iran 1979-2009 - Photographs byAlfred Yaghobzadeh". LensCulture. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  21. "Corbis unveils Sygma archive in France". The Daily Telegraph . 26 May 2009. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2018-05-15 via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  22. Tilder, Lisa; Blotstein, Lisa (20 March 2012). Design Ecologies: Essays on the Nature of Design. Chronicle Books. p. 50. ISBN   9781568989549 via Google Books.
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  24. Coomes, Phil. "BBC - Viewfinder: Photojournalism today" . Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  25. "Photo archive move completed". The Bookseller . Retrieved 2018-04-27.

Further reading