Magnum Contact Sheets

Product Information

You can see whether it took the photographer one shot or the entire roll to get that perfect image, if it took them a few frames or a whole roll you can see how they experimented with angles, framing, composition, etc… (I concede that there are instances where a contact sheet lies, even in this book there are examples of using contact sheets to tell a narrative, but broadly speaking the contact sheet is far more truthful than a single image). This landmark publication provides the reader with a depth of understanding and a critical analysis of the story behind a photograph, the process of editing it, and the places and ways in which the selected photographs were used.

This is the compact edition of the definitive volume on how iconic images by Magnum photographers are made. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. But just in case, Magnum Photos, founded in Paris in 1947, is one of the world’s most famous photo agencies. I think contact sheets allow the viewer to get more inside the head of the photographer and they provide so much more context to a moment. this book lays bare the creative methods, strategies and editing processes behind some of the world's most iconic images.In the foreground, a boy reclines on a hammock, idly contemplating the scene, just as we contemplate the scene with him. A huge undertaking, well produced this tremendous book shows how defining moments are captured and made iconic.

Magnum Contact Sheets presents the work of 69 photographers – 139 contact sheets featuring some of the most famous photographs in history, along with enlargements of individual photographs. Clearly Mr Barnack foresaw the need to have several shots at the target, but I'm not convinced that quantity makes up for quality of vision.We find out what drew the photographer to the scene, the equipment they used, the challenges and uncertainties they faced. The painters – there are several – clamber up and down the girders, curve their bodies into improbable angles, stand on tiptoe like ballet dancers as they reach up to paint overhead. Of course that could change, these things tend to evolve with time but in this moment, this is how I feel. 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).

When you consider that the majority of this book is full pages of contact sheets or enlargements of individual images then it really isn’t so scary.

To be able to follow dozens upon dozens of the most recognised images of the 20th century backwards through the selection process gives these pictures a new immediacy and vitality . It was a much anticipated birthday present which, due to covid, was posted rather than handed to me. This book is a fantastic look into the world of some of the most incredible photographers there has ever been - some of the most amazing photographs ever taken, a true insight into the photographers' processes of creating an image, set-aside the wonderful, and sometimes touching, stories behind the photos themselves.