Magnum Contact Sheets (Int'l Center of Photography, New York: Exhibition Catalogue)

This is a book with an overview of a lot of important pictures and, more importantly, those that were taken along with them that led to the process of final selection for publication. In that sense it is useful to see how this photographer or that shot his/her images and how others were not chosen (often it was just some looked better or had a slight compositional advantage). For those interested in some of the bigger stories of the 20th century and want insight on that process there is plenty of written information to go along with the images that make it possible to understand the intent of the author. This is a heavy book that will tax your arms in a short time, you can be sure of that. Hardcover would be better but at $250 vs $35 there really is no comparison. One criticism - or at least something to be aware of - the contact sheets of print negatives are reproduced well and look good, but they are often too small to make out clearly. If you're used to looking at big screens to enlarge your images this will be difficult for you, so be aware of this before purchasing it. Those who worked with 35mm negatives already understand what this means. Unless you're really into the history I'd suggest borrowing rather than buying the book.

Magnum Contact Sheets is truly a masterpiece in terms of content.The reproductions of the photographs in this book are of outstanding quality. This is an iconic book that will be highly sought after in the future. I would expect prices to skyrocket once it is out of print.In my opinion, this is a book that every serious photographer, student of photography and connoisseur of fine photography books should own.And now for the bad news: Due to a combination of marginal binding strength by Thames & Hudson and improper packing for shipment by Amazon, I had to return the book repeatedly to get an undamaged and/or non-defective copy. When copy #4 arrived, I at long last had an acceptable copy of this outstanding book. There are two threads on this book and the trials and tribulations associated with it at L-Camera-Forum (Google it).I would rate the book at five stars (or an "A") for content and quality of photographic reproduction. However, in terms of the binding I would have to rate it at two stars (or a "D").It is truly unfortunate that the marginal binding has flawed an iconic book that is in all other ways a masterpiece.

A brilliant book I would recommend any aspiring photographer or photojournalist to have in their collection as it talks about not just the trials or work of the great ones before them, but it shows them how the photographers of the past had worked.I particularly love this book as it shows how much the final printed out shoot differs from the ones shown in the contact sheet indicating that some degree of printing skills was involved to make the photo work very well. As well as that exposure is not always spot on when they took the photos in the hectic situation.I also love the stories associated with each of the winning shots from each contact sheet taken over the years. Keep in mind, this isn't just for film enthusiast (but it helps to have a better understanding of the work presented here) as later chapters shows digital contact sheet as well.

This book represents a unique and extraordinary insight into the photojournalistic photographic process. Many famous images are represented here, but what makes them particularly valuable is you get to see the contact sheets as well as the stories behind the pictures. I know of no other book on photography that comes as close to this. Some examples that spring to mind are Ansel Adams - Making 40 Photographs, Michael Freeman's photo books, and most recently, those of Scott Kelby, all of which give you insights into technique and the photographer's mind. But none of these tap into the extraordinary resources captured in this book. My approach to reading and absorbing this substantial volume has been to look at the contact sheets first, to understand the material captured, and then see how your choices relate to those of the photographer. This in itself is a valuable learning experience, not diminished in any way by the clues contained on the contact sheet in the form of notations. This is one book that should be on the bookshelf of every serious student of photography.

Eariler this year this book came up in a discussion in a photography forum, called "essential reading" for anyone who was interested in street photography.Many of the images are stunning, even more are extremely confronting. Some are timeless, and will elicit strong reactions and emotions. Iconic scenes from all over the world,and people internationally known.The stories behind the images, both personal and historic, add a level of understanding as to what and why.It's well worth getting.Oh, another thing; it's a large volume and quite heavy, so don't expect to tote it around for a read in the park.

If you are a fan of Robert and Cornell Cape, Cartier- Bresson, Eve Arnold, Philippe Halsman this is the real deal! Did they use a 35mm lens or a 50?Did they crop or print the entire negative? These are the actual work sheets of the Magnum photographers. Like looking over their shoulders at Le Select. Wonderful.

Much like the original edition this new edition has some great content, telling the story behind some of the most iconic photos of the 20th century. The new book starts off at a better price. Sadly it still has some binding issues, mine is holding together, often when I turn the pages I hear the spine ripping off of the cover. I fear this book wont last a very long time, but the images within are truly timeless.

The book is unique. I was very encouraged to see that even the best in world shoot a lot of film to get a single best shot. Often enough, a single shot only was a winner. Other lessons from the best of the best include determination, awareness, love for all living things and for beauty itself.

I loved this book (which arrived in excellent condition). I enjoyed seeing the photographs chosen by the photographers in the context of their contact sheets; it gave such insight into the process of taking the photographs and how and why a particular shot was chosen.

It is the book from which you can learn a lot about composition and editing in photography and by looking at the way in which most iconic 20th-century photography was created.The paperback edition is well priced and I would highly recommend.

I've been after this book for a while so when I won some money on a Photo competition I didn't give a second thought about buying it. Despite other comments to the contrary, my copy arrived in perfect condition and it's only protection was a small amount of brown paper around the sides and top. It was despatched through Hermes not Royal Mail so maybe that helped. I also don't see any problems with the page binding. It's not a book you can really look at properly unless you've got a flat surface to put it on but the binding seems to be quite strong to me, so they've either improved this or people were trying to read it while riding a bike or something ;)I haven't had a chance to properly look at the book content yet, but first impressions are that it's a marvellous, beautiful book that I'm sure I'll keep returning to. It will take pride of place in my bookcase, although perhaps on a lower shelf as it's HUGE!UPDATE 29/10/2012I've now had a chance to flip through the content so I thought I'd update the review. The quality of this book is astounding. Despite the fact it's full of beautiful big photos on quality paper (150gsm matt art) many of which you will have seen before if you're serious about photography, I am a little disappointed with the selection of some of them. 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. Although that's not to cast the selection with any negativity. They are all superb in their own way and there is a vast array of subjects throughout making it an incredibly interesting read.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. This is not a "how to" guide to taking photos. 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. To give you an example, one section, 1976, is a photo entitled "The Teds" by Chris Steele-Perkins showing a Teddy Boy about to comb his hair. The contact sheet shows a series of 5 or 6 photos on the same roll with the Teddy Boy at various stages of carrying out this action. So why did the shot get selected? The photographer writes:"The first frame is the one that grabs you immediately, as it's quite decisive [The teddy boy is actually combing his hair], but I preferred the later one because it's of that moment when something is about to happen, yet is suspended, unresolved in time and that injects a little tension into the image"This was one of the first narratives I read, and for me it was like an epiphany! I would have selected the first one myself, but the photographer is right, I'd never considered that the moment of something about to happen is more powerful than the event taking place. If I get nothing else from this book I have at least learnt that one thing.Another thing you will learn is that there such a thing as a "decisive moment", but often in order to find it you have to work a scene, approach it from different angles, take multiple shots and above all don't be afraid to make mistakes.It's a fascinating book for anyone with an interest in Photography and one I know I'll keep returning too.

Wonderful book. If you want to be inspired by the icons of photography and see the ‘behind the scenes’ shots of their iconic photographs then this book is a must. Excellent price for the paper book as the hardback version may be expensive. No snapchat, instagram or phone app filters included.

There are few books that I have studied with so great interest, as this one. I have been shooting for the last 55 years, starting in the analogue b/w world - today 100 % digital. So much to learn by reading and studying pictures: The whole roll and the chosen ones.