'Postcards From America'

If you think Magnum Photos, that illustrious cooperative of photographers who captured so much history on film starting back in 1947, is a thing of the past, think again. Its members are still out there recording remarkable images of the world, and you'll be able to track the latest evidence through a documentary project that gets its start this week. "Postcards From America" aims to put five Magnum photographers and a writer in an RV for two weeks, during which they'll record whatever they come across. The project is planned as a series of trips, with the first following a route from San Antonio to Oakland, Calif., with stops in Del Rio; El Paso; Tuscon, Ariz.; Las Vegas; Fresno and Modesto, Calif. (A postcard on project website www.postcards.magnumphotos.com lists the project instructions as follows: Wander in any direction, document everything, network locally, make lists, don't forget our history, engage our audience, wander some more and play.) The official departure is from the Alamo City on May 12, but the Magnum road warriors are making a detour up to Austin on Friday, May 13, to discuss the project at the Harry Ransom Center, where the Magnum Photos archive currently resides. From 5 to 6pm, you can chat it up with participating photographers Jim Goldberg, Susan Meiselas, Paolo Pellegrin, Alec Soth, and Mikhael Subotzky, and writer Ginger Strand at their RV, and at 7pm, go into Jessen Auditorium in Rainey Hall and hear them discuss the project and their art form. For more information, visit www.hrc.utexas.edu.