So here’s a bit of news, that’s happening right here in my home town.

Magnum Photos has sold its archive of more than 185,000 press prints to Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Computer, and two other investors for an undisclosed amount, the agency announced today. Under the terms of the sale, the prints were moved in December 2009 to the Harry Ransom Center, the humanities library at the University of Texas in Austin.

This article on PDN mentions that the purchase was only for Magnum’s Press Prints, and not the rights to sell or license the work. Also, Magnum still holds all negatives and contact sheets.

Press prints were used to promote licensing of photo stories or single images to various magazines. On the backs of these prints are various notes, labels and coding to trace the sale history and describe usage rights for each image.

The Harry Ransom Center, here in Austin, is planning on an exhibition of these images within the next couple of years, so I’m really looking forward to that.

Read the PDN article for more info:

Magnum Sells Press Print Archive to Dell Mogul, Other Investors

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Tags: Austin, Dell, Harry Ransom Center, Magnum Photos, PDN