Magnum Contact Sheets

Product Information

Every once in a while a book comes along that makes you stop, look and listen, Magnum Contact Sheets is such a book . And at the end, I add my own less organised musings, somewhat mimicking my more random, lucky-dip style of interacting with the book. this book lays bare the creative methods, strategies and editing processes behind some of the world’s most iconic images. But while the utility value of the contact sheet has faded with changing technologies, the insight it can provide into a photographer’s process is something timeless, something relevant to the medium of seeing and decision-making no matter the tools du jour.

And then Sroyon asked me if I would be up for a joint review and that was the kick up the backside to actually get it out. I hoped that somebody would take care of me and take me away … there were three of us photographers present. Thus, contact sheets can provide a “sense of walking alongside the photographer and seeing through their eyes”, a “uniquely intimate glimpse into their working process” (p9).Today even film shooters rarely if ever get to the contact sheet stage, preferring to simply scan their selects. We find out what drew the photographer to the scene, the equipment they used, the challenges and uncertainties they faced.

This special and important photography book presents, for the first time, the very best contact sheets created by Magnum photographers.contact sheets, representing 69 photographers, are featured, as well as zoom-in details, selected photographs, press cards, notebooks and spreads from contemporary publications, including Life magazine and Picture Post. One thing is for sure: if you do not have a copy of Magnum Contact Sheets on your bookshelf you cannot be serious about photography. He notices the painters high above, climbs up the tower, and makes several pictures, among which is that unforgettable image of Zazou. And conversely some of my father's negatives and transparencies from the 1970s-80s have deteriorated over time (though others, as you say, almost look new). He took several pictures of me down, then he and a black guy took me to a nearby square … I have often thought about that photographer’s reflex and asked myself what I would have done.