I’ve mentioned before how, for me, the photographers’ reflections add immeasurably to the value of book. The book also has reproductions of notebook pages of other photographers, along with magazine clippings, press cards, letters and other ephemera. Did it emerge from a diligently worked sequence, or was the right shot down to pure serendipity a matter of being in the right place at the right time?

High above Paris, Marc Riboud’s Eiffel Tower Painter (1953) dances with his paintbrush – hat tilted at a jaunty angle, a cigarette dangling from his lips. This is the compact edition of the definitive volume on how iconic images by Magnum photographers are made. Newly re-formatted and with 16 extra pages, this publication features superb reproductions of more than 130 contact sheets and over 200 photographs taken from the sheets, bearing witness to the creative methods, strategies and editing processes used by many of the acknowledged greats of photography. The presentation and chosen scale allows for an experience close to viewing actual size contact sheets allowing the reader to view individual frames easily. 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.Further insight into each contact sheet is provided by texts written by the photographers themselves or by experts chosen by members' estates.

If the photographer is self-critical, he can attempt to analyze the reasons for the gap between expectation and actuality … Ruthless examination of the contact sheet, whether one’s own or another’s, is one of the best teaching methods. For anyone with a deep appreciation of photography and a desire to understand what goes into creating iconic work, Magnum Contact Sheets will be regarded as the definitive volume.In the foreground, a boy reclines on a hammock, idly contemplating the scene, just as we contemplate the scene with him. While these systems [digital] may be highly functional for the short-term trafficking of images, it remains to be seen how enduring they will be. A huge undertaking, well produced this tremendous book shows how defining moments are captured and made iconic. A contact sheet is a sequence of negatives printed directly onto photographic paper (I recently wrote a post about making contact sheets, if you’re interested). He notices the painters high above, climbs up the tower, and makes several pictures, among which is that unforgettable image of Zazou.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. We find out what drew the photographer to the scene, the equipment they used, the challenges and uncertainties they faced. Every once in a while a book comes along that makes you stop, look and listen, Magnum Contact Sheets is such a book . No longer an active working tool for most photographers, the contact sheet is relegated to the archive, of interest as a historic document.

Given that each photo is accompanied by a narrative about how it came about, in some cases I would have preferred to see other, and in my opinion better, photos by the same photographers. Presenting a remarkable selection of contact sheets and related material by 67 Magnum photographers, Magnum Contact Sheets lays bare the creative methods, strategies and editing processes behind some of the world’s most iconic images — was the final image a set-up, or a serendipitous encounter; did the photographer work to extract the potential from a situation, or was it the fabled ‘decisive moment’? The entries are organised into seven chronological sections, starting with 1930–49 and ending with 2000–10.

com are the exclusive property of the named author (except where stated otherwise) and are protected by copyright. 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. As a side note, what has surprised me is how well these old negs have scanned, some (but obviously not all) look like they could have been taken yesterday - the glory of film! 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. What you will learn is whatever you as an individual take from it by combining the narrative with careful examination of the contact sheets and the selected photo.This books allows us to see the mixture of talent, chance, watchfulness and diligence behind each successful picture.