We wanted it to be about Magnum, the agency and its photographers, as well as about the development of the medium over time–the larger arc of history.

Kristen Lubben: It was crucial for distinguishing this book. RL: You decided to sequence the book in chronological order. The design of the book mirrors the look of the Kodak paper box, and it was a little eerie that the Kodak bankruptcy was announced on the same day as the opening for the show that is associated with the book. None of us think that any of these things are going to end, but of course they are. His words really stuck with me and gave me a lens through which to see the project and its timeliness. We were meeting in Paris to do the first edit and he just sort of tossed out the comment that the book would function as an epitaph to the contact sheet. He was the person who really identified that the contact sheet would make a good subject now because of the transition to digital. Kristen Lubben: Martin Parr was the photographer representative on the project and was a guiding force throughout. RL: Who else was involved in shaping the book’s focus? These projects cast a wider net in terms of the kind of materials one can consider when looking at photographs, and Thames & Hudson thought I’d be a good fit in terms of my approach and interest in working process.

Also my earlier book Amelia Earhart: Image and Icon focused on the process of editing and circulation of images I was also at the same time engaged in working with the recently recovered negatives in the Mexican Suitcase. They came to me because I had recently completed a book with Susan Meiselas ( In History), which had been very heavily archival based. Thames & Hudson and Magnum approached me as editor and curator of the project, which they had conceived together. Kristen Lubben: The idea of archives was on everyone’s mind, partly as a result of the New York Magnum office having just sent their “working prints” archive to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas. Russet Lederman: How did the idea for the Magnum Contact Sheets book develop? International Center of Photography Curator Kristen Lubben discusses her recent book and exhibition Magnum Contact Sheets.

Magnum contact sheets pdf