Imagine my confusion as I picked up the package from my doorstep, wondering what on earth could be inside such a heavy box. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

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. Further insight into each contact sheet is provided by texts written by the photographers themselves or by experts chosen by members' estates. And at the end, I add my own less organised musings, somewhat mimicking my more random, lucky-dip style of interacting with the book.When I was a young film newbie I had two experiences that have remained high points throughout my life. You can see whether it took the photographer one shot or the entire roll to get that perfect image, if it took them a few frames or a whole roll you can see how they experimented with angles, framing, composition, etc… (I concede that there are instances where a contact sheet lies, even in this book there are examples of using contact sheets to tell a narrative, but broadly speaking the contact sheet is far more truthful than a single image). 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.

Looking at the contact sheets made me feel like I was walking with the photographer as they shot the subject. Did it emerge from a diligently worked sequence, or was the right shot down to pure serendipity a matter of being in the right place at the right time?The photographs themselves are reproduced beautifully, and the paper quality does seem top-of-the-range. Addressing key questions of photographic practice - was the final image a set-up, or a serendipitous encounter; did the photographer work diligently to extract the potential from a situation, or was the fabled 'decisive moment' at play?

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. 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. I have the book and Holy and Sroyon have done us a service in their review, it is hefty and tells many stories. I'm still not certain, though, whether it's an argument in favour of motor drives and taking more frames, or the opposite.He notices the painters high above, climbs up the tower, and makes several pictures, among which is that unforgettable image of Zazou. i saw an exhibition of these contact sheets at FOAM in Amsterdam and I think it's an excellent and interesting way into how other people see things, how we edit in the moment and later. If the photographer is self-critical, he can attempt to analyze the reasons for the gap between expectation and actuality … Ruthless examination of the contact sheet, whether one’s own or another’s, is one of the best teaching methods. First, I was fortunate to work as a print finisher and photo assistant for photographer Bank Langmore.