In the book "Contact: Theory" Elliott Erwitt said, "Contact sheets should be as private as a toothbrush and ought to be guarded as jealously as a mistress."
He continued by saying that "A dozen contact sheets tell far more about a photographer than a dozen "good" pictures taken by that same photographer."
It was also suggested by Erwitt that careful examination of a dozen random contact sheets would be equal to a complete (photographic) psychoanalysis of a photographer. I do believe that this is very true indeed and although I personally am not ready, nor willing, to undergo any psychoanalysis, either private or public, I did however share the complete shoot, in contact sheet form, from one assignment in my most recent seminar.
Sheet One: 5:41PM - 7:13PM
Sheet Two: 7:15PM - 7:43PM
I believe, firmly, that in addition to being a private task editing one's images requires time and should not be rushed. My editing procedure is a three stage process.
1. I eliminate the absolute trash, in film days this always included two shots of my feet at the start of each roll, nowadays it is usually confined to the "flash misfire" shots :)
This is always done without enlarging to full screen view.
2. I then run through all the frames quickly, looking for one thing only; and that is the "gut feel" of "Yes, I want to look at this again".
3. I close the folder of images and leave them alone for two days at which time I come back with a fresh eye to select the best.
On Monday I'll post the above two contact sheets with the 11 frames I marked as possible keepers along with some thoughts as to why they were chosen.
