Two unique new selections of licensed digital images are now available on Artstor on JSTOR, made available through partnerships with Art Resource and Magnum Photos. These contributions come from the Centre de Monuments Nationaux (CMN) and Magnum Photos, respectively–two institutions renowned for their meditations on place and history.

Offering a visual journey through locations as distinct as the UNESCO World Heritage Site Cite de Carcassonne in southern France, to contested mining projects in remote, northwestern Argentina, these additions have the potential to broaden our understanding of humans and their environs, nations and their monuments, and the complex intersections between art, history and journalism.

Centre de Monuments Nationaux: A window into French history

1500 new images from the Centre des Monuments Nationaux join our growing collection of global art and culture from Art Resource. This selection offers a rich montage of French cultural heritage, spanning architecture, monuments, gardens, and portraiture from the Middle Ages to modernity. CMN manages and conserves over 100 historic sites across France, many of them designated monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

As seen through the lenses of acclaimed mid-century French photographers Émeric Feher, Philippe Berthe, and Jean Feuillie, well-known landmarks such as the Abbey of Saint-Denis and the Château de Versailles join those not included previously in Artstor on JSTOR, providing coverage of French architectural evolution over the centuries. The Flamboyant Gothic-styled Saint-Nicolas Tolentin abounds with myriad stained glass windows, while the interiors of the opulent Hôtel de la Marine reveal ornate Rococo furnishings. Robert Mallet-Stevens’ modernist masterpiece Villa Cavrois stands in stark contrast to the proliferation of Renaissance, medieval, and 17th-19th-century architectural styles throughout this addition. The decorative intricacies of France’s most celebrated structures are well-documented here, providing an essential visual record for comparative studies of European architectural traditions.

For historians and researchers focused on the interplay between art, culture, and national identity, these images offer important insights into how French heritage has been curated and experienced by the public over time.

Magnum Photos: Images of everyday resilience from around the world

An additional launch of 5,000 images from Magnum Photos provides recent photojournalism from this international photographic cooperative. Magnum’s 2024 campaigns capture the raw realities of wars, global crises, and underreported conflicts alongside intimate snapshots of everyday life. Some of the most powerful series provide a visual record of water scarcity throughout Latin America, ongoing wars in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, and highlight issues of displacement, pilgrimage, spirituality, and protest around the world.

Photographer Yael Martinez’s series brings attention to the environmental and social challenges faced by communities in Argentina’s Jujuy region. Images from Alfarcito show the threats to llama and goat herders’ habitats from mining projects near the Guayatayoc lagoon, while portraits of resident Asuncion Castillo reflect the harsh realities of water shortages caused by lithium extraction in the Salinas Grande area. The series emphasizes the delicate balance between local traditions, natural resources, and industrial development.

Alex Majoli transports us to the Ruwanwelisaya Stupa in Sri Lanka, one of the most venerated places of worship in the country, taking an inside look at the role the sacred lotus flower, symbol of mental purity and spiritual perfection, plays in Buddhism. Majoli captures how “vendors artfully arrange the vibrant flowers, offering them to pilgrims. Lotus flowers are used by believers as a symbolic offerings, giving rise to contemplative gratitude and inspiration.”¹

Sakir Khader’s campaign offers a poignant look at daily life within the Jenin Refugee Camp, the northernmost camp in the West Bank, in the summer of 2024. His images reveal a mix of resilience and hardship, showing inhabitants at work and rest, some with visible injuries, with groups of small children roaming the streets on bikes. In one striking photo, a young girl squints at the camera in front of a bombed out structure, symbolizing both vulnerability and strength amidst ongoing struggles.

Hajar Jawad shines a light on “the current largest displacement of people in the word” in Sudan, where “at least 10 million people have fled their homes — more than the entire population of New York.”² Months later, Salih Basheer demonstrates the urgent reality facing Sudanese refugees in a Ugandan camp, highlighting their struggle with malnutrition and inadequate aid. The stories of refugees like Mawiya, who, despite extreme hardship, took action by establishing the Sudanese Kitchen to provide daily meals, come to life in Basheer’s vivid images.

These new digital collections from Art Resource and Magnum Photos not only expand the Artstor on JSTOR corpus for teaching and learning, but also offer a meaningful way to examine the significance of place in historical and contemporary events. Through these compelling visual narratives, we gain a deeper understanding of how complex environmental, political, and social forces have shaped–and continue to shape–regions across the globe.

About the author

Lisa Gavell is the curator of Artstor on JSTOR, where she leads collection development and manages contributor relations. She has written articles about digital image discovery and has organized and participated in numerous visual media-related workshops, convenings, and conferences, including recent events for the American Institute of Indian Studies and the College Art Association. An active member of the Visual Resources Association, Lisa has a background in art history and American Studies.

¹ Alex Majoli. SRI LANKA. Anuradhapura, The Ruwanwelisaya Stupa. July 2024. Lotus Is Considered a Sacred Flower in Buddhism. Outside the Ruwanwelisaya Stupa, One of the Biggest Place of Worship in the Country, Many Vendors Artfully Arrange the Vibrant Flowers, Offering Them to Pilgrims. Lotus Flowers Are Used by Believers as a Symbolic Offerings, Giving Rise to Contemplative Gratitude and Inspiration. Magnum Photos. Artstor, JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.39149323. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

² Moises Saman. Hajar Jawad, Sudan. 16 June, 2024.  SUDAN. Hajar Jawad. 16 June 2024. Displaced Villagers from the Village of Tukma Collecting Sycamore Leafts to Eat in the Hajar Jawad IDP Camp on the Outskirts of the Sudanese Government-Controlled City of Dilling, in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. Sudan’s War Has Left at Least 10 Million People Fleeing Their Homes — More than the Entire Population of New York, and Currently the Largest Displacement of People in the World. One U.S. Estimate in March Said That 150,000 People Might Be Dead in the Fighting, Though the Chaos Has Left an Accurate Body Count Impossible. Hospitals Have Collapsed. Khartoum’s International Airport Is a Ghost Town, Destroyed by Militiamen. Western Darfur, on the Country’s Frontier with Chad, Stands Besieged by Paramilitary Groups Who Have Rekindled the Ethnic Slaughter That Made Darfur a Household Name in the Early 2000s. And Then There Is the Threat of Starvation, the Specter That Haunts Nearly All Conflicts in Africa and Makes No Distinction between Civilian and Combatant. More than 15 Million Sudanese Did Not Have Enough to Eat Even before the War Began. Since Then, the Fighting Has Destroyed Not Just Schools and Roads, but Also Farms and Agricultural Infrastructure, as the Warring Parties Pillage the Countryside to Sustain Themselves. The Possibility of a Great Famine like the One That Ravaged Ethiopia in the 1980s Has Become Real Again. Magnum Photos. Artstor, JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.39149493. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.