Unforgettable moments from Magnum Photos at Istanbul Modern

A newly-opened exhibition at Istanbul Modern's Photography Gallery titled "Magnum - Contact Sheets" explores the creation processes of photographs from Magnum Photos, one of the world's most prestigious photography agencies.

Through the contact sheets of legendary photographs, the exhibition demonstrates the great influence of these works on visual culture from the past century through to our contemporary age. Co-curated by Lorenza Bravetta and Gabriele Accornero, the exhibition brings together select works by world-renowned photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Elliot Erwitt, Eve Arnold, Josef Koudelka and René Burri.

The exhibition, organized in cooperation with Magnum Photos, Forte di Bard and Thames & Hudson, includes 133 works by 58 artists and focuses on the analogue age of photography with works comprising the visual history of more than eighty years.

The exhibition gives visitors remarkable access and insight into the decision-making processes of many of Magnum's famous members through the inclusion of first-person accounts. The texts accompanying the contact sheets tell the stories behind the artists' work.

Cartier-Bresson stated contact sheets are somewhat similar to the case histories of psychoanalysts, a kind of seismograph that records movements. "Everything is written down - whatever has surprised us, what we've caught in flight, what we've missed, what has disappeared, or an event that develops until it becomes an image that is sheer jubilation," he said. David Hurn, on the other hand, noted, "Usually the clearest pictures only become obvious from the contact sheet after the event."

With the development of digital technologies and their huge impact on photographic production,...