A while back I wrote an entry called Revisiting Your Proof Sheets … What You Find Might Surprise You!  A couple of years ago I decided to take a look through my many proof sheets going all the way back to the beginning and found that there might be some gems that I missed for some reason.  I wrote that I found around a hundred or so images that looked like they deserved a chance to be printed and prove themselves. I said that I would be slowly going through the many flagged proof sheets and printing in between current work.  I knew that it would take a long time, but I was excited by prospects! Even though I haven’t done as much as I would like to I am still excited and have dedicated myself to doing much more this year and beyond.

The question in the earlier piece was why was it that so many images I revisited somehow now looked more appealing than they did at first glance?  I wasn’t sure.  Perhaps a different perspective, a new point of view, or the fact that I am older and hopefully somewhat wiser.  Or maybe I was too hasty the first time around.

I recently pulled out the excellent bookContact: Theorypublished by Ralph Gibson’s Lustrum Press (review to come) that contains proof sheets of number of well-known photographers, descriptive essays by the photographers, and the images they chose for printing.  One thing I noticed was the many near and not so near misses on their proof sheets. Not surprising at all (see last week’s entry).

The essay by the late great Mary Ellen Mark was particularly insightful concerning the topic of discussion and goes along way to answering my question:

“In reviewing this contact sheet I just re-noticed frame 24A—I think I’m going to make to print of it. This sometimes happens when you stay away from your contacts for a long time (I have not edited this sheet for three years).  You will often go back and find very good pictures that you missed before – I think often the distance of both emotions and time can give you a fresh perspective on your contact sheets.”

Great thinking by a wonderful photographer!  Thank you so much Mary Ellen – I think you nailed it!

So dust off those old proof sheets this year and take a fresh look at them. You may find some overlooked gems!