David Seymour (born DawidSzymin[1]; November 20, 1911 – November 10, 1956), or Chim (pronounced shim, an abbreviation of the surname Szymin), was a Polish photographer and photojournalist known for his images from the Spanish Civil War, for co-founding Magnum Photos with Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, George Rodger and William Vandivert, and for his project Children of War with UNICEF that captured the plight of children in the aftermath of World War II. He became president of Magnum after Capa's death in 1954 and held this post until his own death in 1956 by Egyptian machine-gun fire in the aftermath of the Suez crisis.
Chim was born to Polish Jewish parents in Warsaw in 1911.[1] In 1914 Chim and his parents emigrated to Odessa just as World War I had begun. In 1919 they returned to Warsaw. Chim studied graphic arts in Leipzig and then traveled to Paris, France to study at the Sorbonne.
A Disturbed Child in a Warsaw Orphanage, 1948. Copyright David SeymourMagnum Photos
It was while Chim was studying at the Sorbonne in Paris that he became interested in photography. Chim began working as a freelance journalist in 1933. His first credited published photograph appeared in 1934 in the magazine Regards. Between 1936 and 1938 Chim covered the Spanish Civil War (alongside fellow colleague Robert Capa) and other international political events. In 1939 he covered the Loyalist Spanish war refugees on the S.S. Sinai to Mexico and then later in the year he arrived in the United States. Chim was in New York when World War II broke out. In 1940 he enlisted in the United States Army, serving in Europe as a photo interpreter during the war. In 1942 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States, the same year that his parents were killed by the Nazis. Chim photographed for Life, along with Look, Paris-Match and Regards. In 1948 he received a commission through UNICEF and traveled to Austria, Hungry, Italy, Poland and Germany to document the plight of World War II refugee children. Between 1949 and 1955 Chim traveled extensively throughout Europe and Israel fulfilling assignments for major publications in Europe and the United States.

Magnum Photos

In 1947, Chim co-founded the Magnum Photos photography cooperative, together with Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson, whom he had befriended in Paris in the 1930s. After Capa's death in 1954, Chim became president of Magnum Photos. He held that post until his death on November 10, 1956.

Death

On November 10, 1956, Chim was killed (along with French photographer Jean Roy) by Egyptian machine-gun fire while covering the armistice of the 1956 Suez War.
Pablo Picasso in Front of Guernica, 1937. Copyright David SeymourMagnum Photos
Photographic portraits
Chim's reputation for his photos of war orphans was magnified by his later work in photographing famous people of his time. These included
Sophia Loren, at home, Naples, Italy (1955)
Bernard Berenson, at 90, visiting Borghese Gallery, Rome, Italy (1955)
Pablo Picasso, in front of detail of Guernica, France (1937)
Henri Barbusse, along with leading left-wing intellectuals in his office at the literary journal Monde, Paris France (1935)
Arturo Toscanini, at his home, Milan (1954)
Ingrid Bergman, 35 portraints of Ingrid Bergman, Rome, Italy (1952-1956)
Roberto Rossellini, and family (1956)
Audrey Hepburn, 14 portraits (1956)
Richard Avedon, Paris, France (1956)

Exhibitions
We Went Back Photographs from Europe 1933-1956 by Chim, January 18-May 5, 2013, International Center of Photography, New York
Photographs by David Chim Seymour and Roman Vishniac, February 1–23, 2013, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York
CHIM (David Seymour), February 7 – March 30, Galerie Walter Keller, Zurich
CHIM Rediscovered  CHIMretrouvé, December 22, 2012 - January 27, 2013, CLAIR Galerie, St. Paul de Vence, Nice, France
CHIM Retrospective, October 29 to February 27, 2011, the Jewish Museum in Brussels
ChimGamboa Exhibition The Mexican Connection, December 9, 2010 - March 6, 2011, El Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City
The Mexican Suitcase,, September 24, 2010  -  January 9, 2011, International Center of Photography, New York
ChimThe Photography of David Seymour (1911 - 1956), September 29, 2007 - February 24, 2008, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco
Photographs by David Seymour (Selections from George Eastman House) May 11 - September 9, 2007, International Center of Photography, New York
Reflections from the Heart, January 20, 2007 - Sunday, April 22, 2007, George Eastman House
Reflections from the Heart March - June 2006, The Corcoran Gallery of Art[3]
Reflections from the Heart, September 11 - December 10, 2006, Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery
Close Enough, 1999, The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland, College Park
CHIM The Photos of David Seymour, 1996, International Center of Photography, New York
Public collections
Magnum Photos - New York, NY
The International Center of Photography - New York, NY
The George Eastman House - Rochester, NY
The National Gallery of Art - Washington, DC
The Corcoran Gallery of Art - Washington, DC
The de Young Museum - San Francisco, CA
Victoria & Albert Museum - London, UK
Harry Ransom Center - Austin, TX

Bibliography

Chim Children of War.Naggar, Carole. Umbrage Editions, 2013.
David Seymour (Chim). Beck, Tom. London and New York, 2005.
David Seymour, Chim. Valencia, 2003.
Close Enough. Photographs by Chim (David Seymour).College Park, 1999.
Magnum. Fifty Years at the Front Line. Text by Russell Miller.New York, 1998.
ChimThe Photographs of David Seymour. Bondi, Inge. Boston, 1996.
Chim.The Photographs of David Seymour.Photographs by Chim (David Seymour). Bulfinch, Boston, 1996.
In Our Time.The World as Seen by Magnum Photographers.Text by William Manchester. Norton, New York, 1989.
Les Grandes Photos de la Guerre d'Espagne.Photographs by Robert Capa, David Seymour-Chim,' 1980.
Front Populaire, photographs by Robert Capa and David Seymour-Chim, Paris, France Chene-Magnum, 1976.
David Seymour--Chim.  ICP Library of Photographers Editors Cornell Capa and BhupendraKaria, New York, NY USA Grossman Publishers, 1974.
David Seymour Chim, 1911-1956. Photographs by David Seymour, 1974.
IsraelThe Reality - People, Places, Events in Memorable Photographs, Edited by Cornell Capa, Micha Bar-am, Karl Katz & Arnold Saks, New York, NY USA The World Publishing Company in association with the Jewish Museum, 1969.
The Concerned Photographer.Photographs by David Seymour, 1968.
David Seymour (Chim) Paragraphic Editor  Anna Farova - Associate Editors Cornell Capa& Sam Holmes, New York, NY USA Grossman Publishers, 1966.
Little Ones.Photographs by David Seymour, 1957.
The Vatican.Photographs by David Seymour, 1950.
Children of Europe.Photographs by David Seymour, 1949.
Krieg in Spanien (War in Spain), by S.L. Shneiderman, Photos by Chim, Warsaw, Poland Yiddish Universal Library, 1938.