Fahey/Klein Gallery presents “Contact”, a group exhibition of iconic images and their corresponding contact sheets. December 8th through January 28, 2017. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, December 8th from 7-9pm.
Although contact sheets serve a very practical purpose– a tool for editing and archiving a photographer’s negatives– they also provide insights into the working methods of photographers. The relatively straightforward dark room process reveals a great deal about the photographer, his or her approach, and the context in which they were shooting.
Herb Ritts’ contact sheets, for instance, reveal the precision and exacting detail with which the photographer approached his subjects. The contact sheet of Versace Dress, Back View is a record of artistic construction and creation. A statuesque Christy Turlington poses beneath a billowing cloud of black silk amidst a surreal desert landscape. The consistency of Ritts’ stunning vision remains clear and persistent throughout. Each frame varies only slightly, capturing the subtle play between light and shadow so innate to Ritts’ aesthetic and style.
There is a uniquely intimate quality to the contact sheet which may help to explain its broad appeal. The contact sheet is inherently personal and gives the viewer the sense that we are looking at something perhaps not meant for us. “A contact sheet is a diary of experiences, a private tool that records mistakes, missteps, dead ends– and lucky breaks.” (Magnum, “Contact Sheet”, 2014).
The exhibition includes contact sheets and photographs by Harry Benson, Joel Brodsky, William Claxton, Arthur Elgort, Robert Jackson, Daniel Kramer, Roxanne Lowit, Christopher Makos, Herb Ritts, Steve Schapiro, Lawrence Schiller, Norman Seeff, Stephen Somerstein, Phil Stern, Julian Wasser, and Bob Willoughby.
For more information, please visit:http://faheykleingallery.com
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