About This Image

John Swope (August 23, 1908 – May 11, 1979) was a freelance LIFE Magazine photographer. He often covered Hollywood and the film industry. He was married to Dorothy McGuire until his death.

In the New York Times story, "The Analog Allure of Photographers' Contact Sheets" (8/18/2025), writer Anika Burgess, utilizing the wonderful photo archives of Times, says, "With a single contact sheet, a photographer could assess all the decisions and hesitations, steps and missteps that went into taking the photograph." And, per her article, Henri Cartier-Bresson said, "It's all there. What surprises us is what we catch, what we miss, what disappears."

Contact sheets came into practice with the advent of smaller negative film sizes in the 20th Century and by the 21st century were nearly obsolete due to the prevailing winds of digital technology.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York included a blowup of a Hans Namuth's in their show, "The Artists of Coenties Slip" a street in Manhattan's financial district, 10/4/2024 - 9/22/2025. Kristen Lubben, the Magnum Foundation's executive director, edited the book, "Magnum Contact Sheets" Thames & Hudson, October 2017 Paperback. 2011, 2014 Hardcover.

Whether we're eavesdropping on a private conversation or privileged to learn from the note taking of an artistic journalist, these treasures not only unveil something of the creative process but allow for images to resurface - those that may not have suited their original purpose. Editing is a selective process, unique to the person and time that it is performed.

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