The Proof

Since I was asked, here is a sample of one of the proof sheets I've been making using XnView. The original is 3075×2175 pixels, for printing at 300dpi. This is enough to see detail on the page. For a 100% detail showing the level of detail that's visible, just click-through on the image at right.

This week marks the last one of the SFMOMA show, Diane Arbus Revelations. We've been there twice now. I'm tempted to return.

Some of the surprising things in the exhibit (which may be in the expensive companion book) are a few of Arbus's proof sheets. Some are about what you might expect: a suite of similar shots from which just one was selected. But for most of the others, what's astonishing is their variety — proofs where each photo is markedly different, of a completely different person, sometimes in another location. The photos that were printed weren't one from a set — they were just the one photo.

I know that Arbus was constantly dismissive of her ability to know what was in the photo until she saw it. But the proof sheets tell a different story. In, nail it, and go on to the next thing. Pretty impressive. Scary, even.