After many years of having this book on my wish list, I finally acquired Magnum Contact Sheets and I could not be happier.
It contains the Magnum collective work through decades starting from 1930s to 2010s with printed contact sheets of more than 100 photographers such as Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliott Erwitt, Steve Mccurry and many others.
Back to those days, when the world did not have lightning speed internet and instagrams of food, magazine photographers on assignment had to use many rolls of film which they shot on location. The contact sheets were used for collaborative work when photographers sent their contact to edit collectively. With digital images it is impossible to see the whole process as photographers do editing themselves before releasing the images into the world.
In comparison to today's self-curation, there were times when the photographer did not even had the last vote on what becomes the best frame, and what he/she thought was the real best images may never be seen.
Magnum Contact Sheets shows us how important and thought-provoking is to see the entire process of making the masterpiece frame by frame, not just the final result. It helps to see how the artists were thinking about the subject matter, their creative approach of taking the different angles and scenes. What became after all the one final picture chosen among others is an essential story. When you look at the entire printout of the roll of film, you start this quest why this shot and not the next to it. Sometimes it’s more or less obvious when you see why group picture with fire-traced cross was chosen for print among all photos taken that night in June 1991 in Hico, Texas by Carl De Keyzer at the Ku Klux Klan gathering. For me, it’s just the most powerful, while others add details to it.
Or it’s worth the short story why the casual relaxing scene initially put into the “B-edit” folder of the 9/11 reportage by Thomas Hoepker becomes the symbol of the peaceful world came to an end. Today it’s clear that this picture has such meaningful value, back to 2011 it seemed like the best representative pictures were taken right at the epicenter.
Thomas Hoepker - MAGNUM New York Sept 11. View from Williamsburg/Brooklyn towards lower Manhattan.
While Magnum Contact Sheets is not the book which you read in one shot, it’s kind of a meditation to go through it randomly and find new stories and fascinating details. The biggest takeaway for me so far is again, the beauty of the creative process, which often stays behind the scenes, especially in the digital age. We don’t think while we take images, we snap. We don’t print the pictures anymore, we scroll. Film photography always forced me to reload, rewind and make a pause. And looking at the creative process of renowned masters is like witnessing a magic.