nhabedi Posted November 22, 2009 Share #1 Posted November 22, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I read somewhere that if Henri Cartier-Bresson had to decide whether another photographer was good or not (for example if someone applied for Magnum), he insisted on looking at their contact sheets and not at prints or portfolios. I can certainly understand what was behind this. A contact sheet reveals a lot about a photographer - how he approaches his subject, how he tries different ways of framing it, how much time he spends with an idea, and so on. That's why I'm also very interested in looking at contact sheets of other photographers, of course especially at those of "interesting" photographers. These are hard to find, though, and of course it's understandable that very few photographers are willing to let the public "look over their shoulder" and see their misses and failures and their unfinished work. The few exceptions I'm aware of are: The "expanded edition" of Sarah Greenough's "Looking In" which shows lots of contact sheets from Robert Frank's "The Americans" and is to my knowledge unique in its coverage of contact sheets for a single photographer and a single piece of work. The film series "Contacts" which I think was initially based on an idea by William Klein. I videotaped them when they were broadcasted here in Germany in the last century and I've now bought the 3-DVD package. Some of the films are nice, but unfortunately not many of them really show and discuss full contact sheets. The newly released book "Contact Sheet" by Steve Christ which I ordered but haven't received yet. Sounds interesting. An old book called "Contact Sheet: Secret of Creative Photography" by Al Gruen which has a cool title but is otherwise pretty disappointing IMHO. Did I miss something? Are they any other books or films showing contact sheets? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 22, 2009 Posted November 22, 2009 Hi nhabedi, Take a look here Looking for contact sheets. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
christer Posted November 22, 2009 Share #2 Posted November 22, 2009 The French magazine Réponses Photos regularly had well known photographers discuss one of their contact sheets; Klein was one of them. If the series is ongoing, that I do not know. I recently cleaned up my archive and threw away a meter high stack of old magazines, so I can't send you a sample. I enjoyed looking at the contacts reproduced. Most had very few hits - although they obviously had selected sheets with at least one very good picture and a few good ones. Made me feel good to see that I am not alone with lots of junk on my contacts. The problem is, the very good ones are missing from my contacts. Grüße aus Eimsbüttel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhabedi Posted November 22, 2009 Author Share #3 Posted November 22, 2009 The French magazine Réponses Photos regularly had well known photographers discuss one of their contact sheets; Klein was one of them. If the series is ongoing, that I do not know. I recently cleaned up my archive and threw away a meter high stack of old magazines, so I can't send you a sample. Ah, too bad you threw them away! But thanks for the hint, I'll see if I find something in that direction. I like hunting for out-of-print books and magazines. I enjoyed looking at the contacts reproduced. Most had very few hits - although they obviously had selected sheets with at least one very good picture and a few good ones. Made me feel good to see that I am not alone with lots of junk on my contacts. The problem is, the very good ones are missing from my contacts. Hehe. I know that feeling... Grüße aus Ottensen! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted November 22, 2009 Share #4 Posted November 22, 2009 You may be interested in this 3 DVD box set where photographers - including HCB, Doisneau, Boubat, Ronis etc. discuss an individual contact sheet and how they selected the frame to print... Coffret Contacts 3 DVD - Le Photoreportage / La Photographie Contemporaine / La Photographie Conceptuelle: Amazon.fr: DOCUMENTAIRE Commentary in French and English. Edit, I see you already have the set, but the link may be useful for others. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
christer Posted November 22, 2009 Share #5 Posted November 22, 2009 Ah, too bad you threw them away! But thanks for the hint, I'll see if I find something in that direction. I like hunting for out-of-print books and magazines. When you go hunting, look in the "Special Noir&Blanc" issues of Réponses Photo which appear 2 or 3 times a year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhabedi Posted November 22, 2009 Author Share #6 Posted November 22, 2009 When you go hunting, look in the "Special Noir&Blanc" issues of Réponses Photo which appear 2 or 3 times a year. Thanks again. I already tried Google, but couldn't find a website for them or anything, only a dealer who offers subscriptions via Amazon. I also have to admit that I forgot most of the French I learned at school... Does anyone have a contact email address for Réponses Photos so that I can try to ask them about past issues? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
E.M Posted November 22, 2009 Share #7 Posted November 22, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Years ago there was a series on arte.tv about photographers and their contact sheets. I think it was just called 'contact' , if I remember well. There was also ' les 100 photos du siècle' which lasted only for 5 minutes for every telecast of one photo. Very nice ( they interviewed the photographer and the subject many years after the picture was taken) and they also showed some contacsheets I think. Also a book of the series with the same name. You can contact them at arte.tv. Etienne Michiels Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPJMP Posted November 22, 2009 Share #8 Posted November 22, 2009 Jim Marshall's Proof contains nothing but contact sheets from some of his more famous celebrity photo shoots. You can see which ones were rejected, which were considered, and which shot was ultimately chosen. It's amazing how many great shots are on each roll which never made it to print. And best of all, most of the photos are taken on Tri-X with with a Leica M2 or M4. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhabedi Posted November 22, 2009 Author Share #9 Posted November 22, 2009 Years ago there was a series on arte.tv about photographers and their contact sheets. I think it was just called 'contact' , if I remember well. Yes, that was already mentioned twice in this thread... There was also ' les 100 photos du siècle' which lasted only for 5 minutes for every telecast of one photo. Very nice ( they interviewed the photographer and the subject many years after the picture was taken) and they also showed some contacsheets I think. Also a book of the series with the same name. Thanks, I found a used copy of (the German translation of) the book. It seems a DVD is not available (although some other DVDs of the same author are). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhabedi Posted November 22, 2009 Author Share #10 Posted November 22, 2009 Jim Marshall's Proof contains nothing but contact sheets from some of his more famous celebrity photo shoots. You can see which ones were rejected, which were considered, and which shot was ultimately chosen. It's amazing how many great shots are on each roll which never made it to print. And best of all, most of the photos are taken on Tri-X with with a Leica M2 or M4. Nice! Thanks a lot - just ordered a used copy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted November 23, 2009 Share #11 Posted November 23, 2009 Years ago there was a series on arte.tv about photographers and their contact sheets. I think it was just called 'contact' , if I remember well. Indeed, see my reference to the DVD set available for Amazon.fr above. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noah_addis Posted November 24, 2009 Share #12 Posted November 24, 2009 You can see some of Robert Frank's contacts in the book: Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans, Expanded Edition Quite interesting. I agree, you can learn a lot about a photographer (or about photography) by looking at contact sheets. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkayser Posted November 24, 2009 Share #13 Posted November 24, 2009 Another book you may find interesting is Contact: Theory, published by Ralph Gibson's Lustrum Press in 1980. It contains a selection of contact sheets (one each) from 43 photographers, including Gibson, Elliott Erwitt, Eikoh Hosoe, Jean-Loup Sieff, Martine Franck, Mary Ellen Mark and more. Used copies are available through Amazon.com's Marketplace. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhabedi Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share #14 Posted November 24, 2009 You can see some of Robert Frank's contacts in the book: Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans, Expanded Edition Yes, I already said so in my first posting. One thing I forgot in my list is Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Scrapbook", BTW. It doesn't contain real contact sheets, but it shows variations of various well-known pictures of his so that you can see how he approached a subject. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhabedi Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share #15 Posted November 24, 2009 Another book you may find interesting is Contact: Theory, published by Ralph Gibson's Lustrum Press in 1980. It contains a selection of contact sheets (one each) from 43 photographers, including Gibson, Elliott Erwitt, Eikoh Hosoe, Jean-Loup Sieff, Martine Franck, Mary Ellen Mark and more. Used copies are available through Amazon.com's Marketplace. A, nice, thanks. Never heard of that one. Just ordered a copy... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bernd Banken Posted November 24, 2009 Share #16 Posted November 24, 2009 A, nice, thanks. Never heard of that one. Just ordered a copy... Here you can find my contact sheet. It tells the story of a bomb explosion in Belfast in 1972. People are praying for the victims..... It's just at position #4: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/forum-zur-leica-m8/84093-kriegsberichterstatter-und-oder-gewissen.html The thread was about war.photographer. After such a long time the frames are lost..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnkare Posted November 24, 2009 Share #17 Posted November 24, 2009 I found a book written in 1982 from our library database, maybe I'll fetch it some day. Here's one page where it can be ordered (I think?): I Photo Central | Photo Detail | James Alinder - The Contact Print, 1946-1982 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnkare Posted November 24, 2009 Share #18 Posted November 24, 2009 And I don't know it there are examples in Ansel Adams' "The print : contact printing and enlarging : basic photo 3" or Andreas Feininger's "Darkroom techniques. Vol. 2, Equipment materials, contact printing, enlarging" etc. At least some discussion, I guess. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhabedi Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share #19 Posted November 24, 2009 Here you can find my contact sheet. It tells the story of a bomb explosion in Belfast in 1972. People are praying for the victims.....It's just at position #4: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/forum-zur-leica-m8/84093-kriegsberichterstatter-und-oder-gewissen.html The thread was about war.photographer. Yes, thanks. I remember that thread. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhabedi Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share #20 Posted November 24, 2009 I found a book written in 1982 from our library database, maybe I'll fetch it some day. Here's one page where it can be ordered (I think?): I Photo Central | Photo Detail | James Alinder - The Contact Print, 1946-1982 This (and likely also the Adams book) is about the technique of contact printing and not about 35mm contact sheets, right? Just checking. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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