“I have come to believe in the superiority of discovery over invention. What is important is not what I make happen but what happens to me.” As modest as he was skilled, Burt Glinn attributed a large part of his success as a photographer to luck. While he did find himself present at a remarkable number of significant events, it was Glinn’s ability to spot the makings of a good image – often a split-second window of opportunity – that made him the legendary image-maker he is known as today. Pictured here, two planes cross paths above the New York skyline.

Burt Glinn became an associate member of Magnum in 1951, along with Eve Arnold and Dennis Stock, before becoming a full member in 1954. He served as Magnum’s president twice.