These photographers cover over seventy years of history, from the Normandy landings by Robert Capa, the Paris riots of 1968 by Bruno Barbey and war in Chechnya by Thomas Dworzak to images of Che Guevara by Rene Burri, Malcolm X by Eve Arnold and clasic New Yorkers by Bruce Gilden. The entries are organised into seven chronological sections, starting with 1930–49 and ending with 2000–10. To give you an example, one section, 1976, is a photo entitled "The Teds" by Chris Steele-Perkins showing a Teddy Boy about to comb his hair. I assumed he drew them with his contacts sheets as reference, but that’s not the case: “I sketch as soon as possible after taking a shot, usually at the scene itself.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. The negatives are printed not by enlargement, but by placing them directly on – in contact with – the paper. 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. Again great review Holy and Sroyon , thanks for starting my morning with this thought provoking review.

This book is on my list of 13 - one of 13 books I'd take with me to keep if I had to sell my entire collection. First, I was fortunate to work as a print finisher and photo assistant for photographer Bank Langmore. For those worried about the new edition lacking some of the content of the first book - have no fear.

Today even film shooters rarely if ever get to the contact sheet stage, preferring to simply scan their selects. Presumably, when a photographer releases the shutter, it is because he believes the image worthwhile. Little did I realise at the time that they would also be useful for scanning old negs onto a computer! The contact sheets are mostly from black and white negatives like the one shown below, but we also get some colour negatives (like Jonas Bendiksen’s magic-realist Satellites) and transparencies (like Stuart Franklin’s iconic images of Tiananmen Square). Contacts sheets are usually exposed at minimum time for maximum black and so become a great instructional tool for the first enlargement.Its value there may yet prove even greater than its original workaday function; an enduringly accessible record of what and how photographers saw for nearly a century. Content contributor – become a part of the world’s biggest film and alternative photography community blog. I also remember that I didn’t want to intrude too much, but at the same time I felt this obligation to shoot, to document. 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). I would have selected the first one myself, but the photographer is right, I'd never considered that the moment of something about to happen is more powerful than the event taking place.

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. The entry for Patrick Zachmann in 1990 in which his roll of just 11 shots shows the moments leading up to him being shot by a white policeman. I'm still not certain, though, whether it's an argument in favour of motor drives and taking more frames, or the opposite.com are the exclusive property of the named author (except where stated otherwise) and are protected by copyright. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. It does not so much "drop" through the letterbox as be handed to you with the warning that " it is heavy"….

With the rise of digital photography, the contact sheet has, in many ways, been relegated an anachronism—a vestigial relic of the medium’s past. Addressing key questions of photographic practice – was the final image a set-up, or a serendipitous encounter; did the photographer work diligently to extract the potential from a situation, or was the fabled ‘decisive moment’ at play?Depending on the book, I will usually put markers in, perhaps in pencil or, in the case of glossy pages like this, little post-it markers. 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 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. You'll flip the pages and read the details and you will "get it" and be happy you digested this brick of a book.