Magnum Unique Numbering Guide: ABC1995012W28642/24A

THE STORY NUMBER The story is a concept which defines a series of photographs which have in common either a place, anything from a kitchen to a continent, or a personality, an event, a date, or a combination of all these together. The allocation of the story number is completely arbitrary but in order to make life easier it is preferable that the numbers follow in chronological order for each new story. For some years now, the number 001 has been reserved for private stories and for the duration of a year other stories of the same kind can be added to this story number. This personal story number is in no way obligatory. It is preferable to create several different stories rather than just one story that contains several different subjects. A story = unity of place, unity of time, unity of action!

ABC1995012W28642/24A
THE PHOTOGRAPERS CODE This consists of the first two letters of the photographers surname followed by the first letter of his christian name BARBEY Bruno: BAB CAPA Robert: CAR CAPA Cornell: CAC etc There are exceptions to the rule and here are a few examples for those who are curious: CARTIER-BRESSON Henri: HCB LE QUERREC Guy: GLQ ZACHMANN Patrick: ZAC etc

ABC1995012W22864/24A
THE YEAR THE PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN
When the year is not clear, simply replace the unknown digit with an X 193? : 193X thus ABC193X012W22864/24A 19?? : 19XX thus ABC19XX012W22864/24A Sometimes contact sheets have, from the very beginning, been numbered with the wrong year. There is no point in renumbering everything with the real year. Moreover, it is impossible to do so when one considers the number of prints that are in circulation all over the world. Nevertheless it is imperative that the correct year when the photographs were taken be written in the window intended for this purpose in the general information about the story.

ABC1995012W2864/24A
THE LETTER CODE IN THE UNIQUE NUMBER This letter indicates the kind of film used for prints and dupes. TYPES OF ORIGINAL FILM D...../... E...../... Black and white panoramic original negative D + 5 digits/+ 2 or 3 digits (e.g. D00001/01A) Colour panoramic original negative E + 5 digits/+ 2 or 3 digits (e.g. E00001/01A)

F... or ...../... Colour panoramic original positive If the roll is kept strips uncut the numbering should be similar to the BW ie. + 5 digits/+ 2 or 3 digits, if the roll is cut frame by frame the numbering should be similar to the positive + 3 digits. Envelopes & strips should have a roll number indicated (e.g. F001 or F00001/01A) G.. Color digital file original G is followed by the day (04) by the month (09) by the letter of the cathridge (A) then by the view number (00222) (e.g. G0409A00222) OR G followed by five digits (e.g. G00001) As above, but converted to B/W

H..

K... L N P Q

Colour original positive K + 3 digits (e.g. K001) Colour polaroid L + 3 digits (e.g. L001) B & W negative made from colour negative. Black & White original positive P + 3 digits (e.g. P001) B&W negative made from a positive B&W. Should have the same numbering as the positive. Q + 3 digits (e.g. Q001) Relief original negative Transposition or colour conversion Positive colour converted to a B&W negative or positive colour converted to B&W, should have the same number as the colour positive. For colour positive converted: T + 3 digits (e.g. T001) For colour negative converted T + 5 digits/+ 2 or 3 digits (e.g. T00001/01A) Black and white original negative W + 5 digits/+ 2 or 3 digits (e.g. W00001/01A) Colour negative made from a colour positive Colour original negative Z + 5 digits/+ 2 or 3 digits (e.g. Z00001/01A)

R T...

W...../... Y Z...../...

Type of substitute films: W...C Copy negative (of a B&W) with C at the end of image number (e.g. W00001/01AC)

Cropped images Same number as film, but with an R at the end of the image number (e.g. W00001/01AR) NB The frames of the original slides must, without fail, be stamped with ORIGINAL. Original and substitute films must be kept in the cold room. The same story may have several letters if the photographer worked with different films.

(Be careful when numbering and ordering contact sheets by size: put all the Ws together, all the Zs together)

ABC1995012W28642/24A
THE CONTACT SHEET NUMBER FOR NEGATIVES Black and White and Colour The number must always consist of 5 digits - Either from 00001 to 00012 number of contact sheets by story. - Or from 00001 to 99999 number of contact sheet since the photographer started work. The second solution means that the photographers can adapt their previous system to the MAGNUM number, even if a letter is used instead of the digit. Example The photographer ABC shot 5 stories in 1968 with a total of 321 contact sheets numbered from 1 to 321. In order to adapt this to the MAGNUM unique numbering system, the photographer gives each of his 5 stories a story number: from ABC1968001 to ABC1968005 in which he arranges his contact sheets with the number they were originally given (00001 to 00321), thus: ABC1968001W00001 to W00010 ABC1968002W00011 to W00124 ABC1968003W00125 to W00285 ABC1968004W00286 to W00302 ABC1968005W00303 to W00321 1st story (10 contact sheets) 2nd story (114 contact sheets) 3rd story (161 contact sheets) 4th story (17 contact sheets) 5th story (19 contact sheets)

ABC1995012W28642/24A
IMAGE NUMBERS ON THE NEGATIVES Black and white and colour. The number of the image is the same as the negative number on the film preceded by /, thus /24A. No space between the / and the number of the image. For the images numbered 1 to 9 add a 0 thus: /01 etc

Some photographers have used a system whereby the image number is taken from the two numbers that may correspond to the edited image on a negative strip. This should be avoided if possible and the closer number to the middle of the frame should be selected. Examples: W28642/24A-25 for a black and white negative Z28642/24A-25 for a colour negative T28642/24A-25 for colour converted to black and white If the image is to be cropped, add an R after the number of the image. If you lack space, cancel the hyphen. Ex: 24A-25 becomes 24A25R If a copynegative of the image exists, type a C right after the number of the image. Examples: 24A-25C. Remember to add the keyword *copynegative in Paris, London or New York when you are indexing the view. The same image may consist of both letters ex: 24A25RC. In this case you must cancel the hyphen. For old films or special films that do not have a printed number the images must be numbered by hand on the front or the back of the contact sheet.

ABC1995012K045
IMAGE NUMBERS FOR POSITIVES COLOUR AND BLACK AND WHITE This concerns the last part of the unique number K + 3 digits or T + 3 digits Positives do not have the same unique numbering system as negatives because they cannot be numbered simply as contact sheets: TAKE CARE 1. That the photographer edits his film and throws out unselected slides. 2. That the edited photographs are put into a sequence, (regardless of the original order of the film). The sheets of edited slides now have an artificial, but definitive, chronology. 3. That the chronological image numbers are written permanently on the frames of the originals: from K 001 to K 999. 4. That the colour and black and white are not duplicated until the originals have been given a complete unique number.