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).

No longer an active working tool for most photographers, the contact sheet is relegated to the archive, of interest as a historic document.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. The book also has reproductions of notebook pages of other photographers, along with magazine clippings, press cards, letters and other ephemera. I have the book and Holy and Sroyon have done us a service in their review, it is hefty and tells many stories. Will scholars of the future be able to pore through outdated digital files as they do through prints, contact sheets and paper files, and how will that fundamentally different experience of the archive shape the histories that are written of the current period of photographic production? 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.

By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. 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. 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.This is a fascinating book, but overall the photographs selected for discussion create a dismal view of humanity. I've seen other reviews mentioning that you will learn from this book and it will improve your photography, but what you will not learn is anything about equipment used or exposure settings and the like.

Again great review Holy and Sroyon , thanks for starting my morning with this thought provoking review. Contacts sheets are usually exposed at minimum time for maximum black and so become a great instructional tool for the first enlargement. 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). I’ve mentioned before how, for me, the photographers’ reflections add immeasurably to the value of book.Es increíble poder ver el proceso de selección del autor de una fotografía famosa, y leer o bien el comentario del mismo autor o de especialistas de la época. 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.

A few shots from the reverse angle, with Sunbathing Woman and Push-Up Man in the foreground and Hammock Boy in the background. Not many people are actually willing to do this, especially when you compare it to the number of people who do 5 shots posts! Together, they are vivid reminders of the tactile, physical quality of photography in the analogue age – a quality we find even in the very name: contact sheet.The entries are organised into seven chronological sections, starting with 1930–49 and ending with 2000–10.