ARTE Distribution

The Contacts collection is an invitation to discover the artistic approach of the greatest contemporary photographers from an original angle. Through a series of images (contact sheets, proofs, prints and slides), with a commentary by the photographer, the viewer enters the secret world of their creation and is guided into the heart of the photographic creative process.

CONTACTS is a collection of films about contemporary photography. Each film traces the development of an individual photographer. With the help of the programme director, the photographer puts together a retrospective, selecting images from his or her contact sheets, proof prints and end-prints to show how his or her work has changed in character and meaning over the years.
Photographers use contact sheets and proofs of various kinds as an aid to memory or a log-book. Exploring these visual jottings provides us with an invaluable insight into their working methods.
Over the years, the initial concept of the collection has evolved. CONTACTS now includes major contemporary artists like Sophie Calle, Jeff Wall, Nan Goldin and Hiroshi Sugimoto, whose work makes use of photographic techniques, alongside famous photo-journalists like William Klein, Helmut Newton, Robert Doisneau and Henri Cartier-Bresson. CONTACTS has become an international reference for all those who are interested in contemporary photography.

3 DVD released by ARTE Video

2000 : Certificat Of Merit Winner au Festival International Du Film De San Francisco for NAN GOLDIN. 1999 : Mention Spéciale à Vue Sur Les Docs for NAN GOLDIN. 1994 : Golden FIPA for SARAH MOON. 1993 : Prix du Meilleur Film de Jeunes au Festival du Court-métrage De Tampere for DON MCCULLIN. 1992 : Mention Spéciale at the Festival International Du Documentaire - Visions Du Réel (Nyon) for DON MCCULLIN.