Overview
Brake joined the prestigious Paris-based photo agency Magnum in 1955. This set him on course for the life of a globe-trotting photojournalist through to the early 1960s.
The 1950s were the heyday of black and white magazine photojournalism. A host of large-format picture magazines such as Life, Look, Paris Match, and Illustrated provided a window on the wider world. Their success was possible mainly because television was not yet widespread, but also perhaps because relatively few people were able to travel themselves.