New Book: Magnum Contact Sheets

michswiss

Figured I'd share a link to a review of the latest book out of Magnum, "Magnum Contact Sheets." Some sample pages here.

I figure it's germane to a number of recent conversations in the forum about "working the scene" or the general why of shooting, editing, selecting and posting/publishing a particular shot. Personally, I don't think how someone got a shot really matters. It's the result. But what's obvious is that most of the best documentary (and street in my view) shots come through effort and many frames.

Richard

Cool stuff and no surprise about the amount of work it takes. Thanks for posting the link.

bdcolen

michswiss wrote: »

Figured I'd share a link to a review of the latest book out of Magnum, "Magnum Contact Sheets." Some sample pages here.

I figure it's germane to a number of recent conversations in the forum about "working the scene" or the general why of shooting, editing, selecting and posting/publishing a particular shot. Personally, I don't think how someone got a shot really matters. It's the result. But what's obvious is that most of the best documentary (and street in my view) shots come through effort and many frames.

For the past several years I have used the book Magnum Stories in my MIT and Harvard Extension School classes - for this coming semester I have switched to Magnum Contact Sheets. It's a terrific book, and provides some real insight into the 'visual thinking' of some great photographers; and it also provides a great argument for why you should save all your digital files - other than those so grossly out of focus or badly exposed that they can never be salvaged.

RSL

I've owned Magnum Contact Sheets for about a month now, and I've owned Magnum Stories for several years. I agree with BD one humdred percent. If you're serious about Street and/or PJ you need to get your hands on both these books and spend time with them. Jennifer's right, the end result is what matters, but these contact sheets are very, very instructive. One thing they tell you is that a lot of hard work goes into good photography -- as if you didn't already know that. Another thing they're probably going to tell you is that if you're working seriously at street or PJ your contact sheets, if you made them, would bear some significant similarities to contact sheets from Magnum -- at least as far as how you approach a subject.

On a related subject: I just returned from three days of shooting in St. Augustine. On the way back I stopped at the Southeast Museum of Photography at Daytona State College and spent an hour and a half viewing Kate Brooks's prints from the Middle East. If you haven't seen her actual prints it's worth watching for a show where you can view them. Kate's an incredibly brave, tough young woman with an artist's eye who's done the best Middle East photojournalism I've seen yet. If you can't get to a show of her actual prints, look for a copy of her book: In the Light of Darkness. If you're a photographer you'll love it.

richardman

I told my two daughters to get it for me for the holiday (we celebrate Solstice) and both of them and their mother (my wife :-) ) thought that it's some sort of fancy paper because it says, "Contact Sheet." *facepalm*

I promise not to be overly critical of others' work any more, but learning from a Magnum guy really shows how hard they work and why their stuff is such high caliber. If am image is no good, it's no good. No excuses. They only show end results, and having a peek at their contact sheet is a privilege and shows how hard it really is.

p.s. RUss, thanks for the link.
t

M38A1

[heavy sigh...]
Have I mentioned how much I kick myself for tossing out all my B&W negatives/contact sheets from 1970-1980 or so? Just figured I'd never 'need' or 'want' them again. Not that they were of this caliber, but sheesh, I just threw them out.
[/heavy sigh...]

richardman

@Scott, I read something like that when I first joined the forum a couple months back. Sorry about that. I lost some negatives from my college years, and boy do I miss them now, even though they are almost certainly mostly crap. My wife and I were just kids then, and now... our kid is in college!