How a Foundation Spent Nearly $1 Million on Photo-Centric Book

4 minute read
Stuartholme School visual art students viewing the Danie Mellor Exhibition. “Exotic Lies Sacred Ties.”
Stuartholme School visual art students viewing the Danie Mellor Exhibition: “Exotic Lies Sacred Ties” housed in the James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre
 of the University of Queensland Art Museum. The art museum was established in 1976
 to showcase the artworks collected by the university since the 1940s.Russell Shakespeare
By Lucia De Stefani

A theater and a dance arena at the Cornell University, in Ithaca, provide a cultural environment for actors and dancers to thrive; an Olympic-size pool for late night kayaking and swimming lessons at the University of Limerick, Ireland, engages faculty and the public in healthy activities; a pediatric hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, boasts new operating theaters to treat children with heart defects.

These and about 300 other notable projects have been funded throughout the last three decades by The Atlantic Philanthropies, a private and secretive foundation created in 1982 by Irish-American businessman Chuck Feeney, the billionaire magnate behind the Duty Free Shoppers empire.

As it now plans to wind down, The Atlantic Philanthropies invested close to $1 million to partner with the Magnum Foundation to create and publish a book, called Laying Foundations for Change: Capital Investments of The Atlantic Philanthropies, that uses photographs to celebrate the foundation’s legacy and its accomplishments.

The high figure covered the work of 24 photographers as well as all design and publishing costs.

The Magnum Foundation was given a planning grant in the spring of 2013 to determine “what it would take to execute a project of this scope, on six continents,” says David Morse, chief communication officer at The Atlantic Philanthropies. “When it was clear that it was feasible, then we decided to go ahead with the full project.”

The finished product is composed of two books: The first highlights 35 projects funded by Atlantic Philanthropies in six countries: Australia, Cuba, Ireland, South Africa, Vietnam, and the U.S. The second volume is a compendium that overviews all The Atlantic Philanthropies’ projects, tallying up to more than 300.

Photographers were approached based on their geographical location: Martin Parr, Mark Power and Donovan Wylie covered Ireland, while Jim Goldberg, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Susan Meiselas and Peter Van Agtmael photographed in the U.S. Chien-Chi Chang went to Vietnam, and Cristina Garcia Rodero reported from Cuba. Both Magnum and non-Magnum photographers took part in what Catherine Chermayeff, director of special projects at the Magnum Foundation and executive producer of the book project, considers a “global effort” that went beyond Magnum members’ involvement. Among the non-Magnum photographers, Jo Ractliffe and Gideon Mendel reported from South Africa while Russell Shakespeare was based in Australia.

Goldberg, for example, looked at the impact that the low profile foundation had on people’s lives on the West Coast, especially around Stanford University Medical Center and on the UCSF’s Mission Bay campus. “San Francisco is our home,” says Goldberg, referring to himself and Sanguinetti. “I have seen the landscape changed. It affected [the community] in so many different ways.”

The photographers were aided by young, photography students as part of a mentoring program, promoted by the Magnum Foundation and embraced by Atlantic.

“An interesting idea was that in places like Vietnam and South Africa – where there is not a lot of documentary photography being done and there is very little training – we thought that if there will be students we’ll be able to mentor… that would be a great contribution back to documentary photography in those places,” says Morse.

Students were assigned to a “team captain”, and while they worked with their mentors, they also developed their own in-depth stories. The Magnum photographers were thrilled by the initiative: “Both Alessandra and I were interested in giving students the opportunity to get real field experience, something the students are unable to usually get,” says Goldberg.

The photographs taken by professionals are featured in the book, printed in 5,000 copies though not for sale: Copies will be given to an audience of philanthropists and the grantees featured in the volumes. The book however is available to the general public in its digital format and can be downloaded on the website Laying Foundations for Change: Capital Investments of The Atlantic Philanthropies, where most of students’ work will be featured.

Larger edits of the photography projects are available on The Atlantic Philanthropies‘ website.

Lucia De Stefani is a writer and contributor to TIME LigthBox. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Eight-day-old Alain Daniel in the maternity ward at the main hospital on Cuba’s Isle of Youth. The Atlantic Charitable Trust helped rebuild the island’s medical infrastructure after a series of devastating hurricanes.
Parents of eight-day-old Alain Daniel look at the newborn in the maternity ward at the main hospital on Cuba’s Isle of Youth, in Santa Fe. The Atlantic Charitable Trust helped rebuild the island’s medical infrastructure after a series of devastating hurricanes.Cristina Garcia Rodero—Magnum
A patient awaiting treatment at the Sabona Eye Centre, Queenstown, South Africa. Ultimately, all of Atlantic’s capital investments have been driven by a common vision: That building the right facility—in the right place, at the right time, and under the right leadership—can lead to the creation of new opportunities for the entire community.
A patient awaiting treatment at the Sabona Eye Centre, in Queenstown, South Africa.Mikhael Subotzky
Dr. Rodriguez provides primary care to Shexley Benent, 2, at walk-in clinic Number 14, La Santa Fe, Isle of Youth.
Dr. Rodriguez provides primary care to Shexley Benent, 2, at walk-in clinic Number 14 at La Santa Fe, Isle of Youth, Cuba.Cristina Garcia Rodero—Magnum
The goal of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building: Always Be Curing Cancer.
An office at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building, in San Francisco, Calif. On the window, a note reads on of the main goals of center: "Always Be Curing Cancer."Jim Goldberg—Magnum
Tristan Adams with his mother as he wakes up after major heart surgery in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Tristan Adams with his mother as he wakes up after major heart surgery in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, in South Africa. In 2009, an Atlantic grant contributed to the building of a new operating theatre complex that includes eight fully equipped operating rooms.Gideon Mendel
A patient receives an intravenous solution at a commune health center in Khanh Hoa Province. Atlantic has constructed, rebuilt or provided medical equipment and supplies to 68 CHCs in Khanh Hoa province alone.
A patient receives an intravenous solution at a commune health center in Khanh Hoa Province, in Vietnam. Atlantic has constructed, rebuilt and provided medical equipment and supplies to over 50 Commune Health Centers in Khanh Hoa province alone.Chien-Chi Chang—Magnum
Augustine Leudar conducts research on complex electronic signals in plants and spatial audio. He has used the results of his research to create three-dimensional sound-art, audio holograms, and sonic illusions at installations throughout Ireland, the UK and Europe.
Augustine Leudar conducts research on complex electronic signals in plants and spatial audio. He has used the results of his research to create three-dimensional sound-art, audio holograms, and sonic illusions at installations throughout Ireland, the UK and Europe.Andrew Rankin
The Aughrim Active Retirement Group, part of the Lifecourse Institute program at NUI Galway.
The Aughrim Active Retirement Group, part of the Lifecourse Institute program at National University of Ireland Galway. NUI Galway houses the Institute for Lifecourse and Society Building and Project Lifecourse, a flagship initiative that produces research to support innovative policy reform across the lifecycle, focusing on children and young people, people with disabilities, and elderly people.Paul Seawright
Stuartholme School visual art students viewing the Danie Mellor Exhibition. “Exotic Lies Sacred Ties.”
Stuartholme School visual art students viewing the Danie Mellor Exhibition: “Exotic Lies Sacred Ties” housed in the James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre
 of the University of Queensland Art Museum. The art museum was established in 1976
 to showcase the artworks collected by the university since the 1940s. Russell Shakespeare
Students in an outreach program visit the Constitutional Court at Constitution Hill.
Students in an outreach program visit the new Constitutional Court at Constitution Hill, in South Africa. Adjacent to the new Constitutional Court, where before was Johannesburg’s reviled prison Old Fort, is now an apartheid memorial, built with the contribution of Atlantic. Gideon Mendel
Late night indoor kayaking, University Arena Pool, University of Limerick. Ireland’s first Olympic-size pool is open to students, faculty, staff and the public, and hosts boating, water safety and sports training activities in addition to swimming.
Late night indoor kayaking, University Arena Pool, University of Limerick. Ireland’s first Olympic-size pool is open to students, faculty, staff and the public, and hosts boating, water safety and sports training activities in addition to swimming.Martin Parr—Magnum
Costume shop supervisor Lisa Boquist at work in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, the recipient of Atlantic’s very first capital grant. The Schwartz Center contains a proscenium theater, two blackbox spaces, a dance performance area, and numerous classrooms, studios, labs and production shops.
Costume shop supervisor Lisa Boquist at work in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, the recipient of Atlantic’s very first capital grant. The Schwartz Center contains a proscenium theater, two blackbox spaces, a dance performance area, and numerous classrooms, studios, labs and production shops.Mark Power—Magnum

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com