A Brief History of the "1 Image 1 Minute" Project

This project is a contemporary recreation of Une Image Pour Une Minute, a project originally produced by French director Agnes Varda for presentation on French television in 1983. In Varda's version, a photographic image appeared on television (in-between network programming), and someone--a curator, photographer, or art historian--would speak about the image for one minute.


Here I have asked contemporary photographers, artists, historians, and others to select an image that has significance for them, and write or speak about it for the equivalent of 1 minute. The result is a a compelling and accessible means of gaining insight into other artists’ and photographers’ perspectives. The project is also a way of reactivating photo history, cultural literacy, and of offering a closer look at images than the mere fraction of a second that most contemporary images are afforded.

Barbara Grover


Barbara Grover
Sebastiao Salgado, No Title,1970s (from a series created for Doctors Without Borders, Documenting the African Sahel)

There are tons of photos that have made a big impression on me over the years, but when I had to choose one to speak about, I chose one that leaves me speechless. That said, I think this is one of the most powerful photos of Sebastio Salgado – maybe not one of his best technically speaking, but one that has incredible staying power. While this image is frightening and humbling, and reminds me at first glance of a side of beef being dangled in a slaughterhouse rather than a child fighting to survive, it also reminds me of the resilience of the human condition. Perhaps because at first glance it is a bit unclear what is going on in the photo, one spends more time gazing at it. Therefore, I think it fulfills one of the most important roles of photography – to get people to look at, and think about the unthinkable.

This photo exemplifies yet another role of photography – to show how history repeats itself – giving us an opportunity to do things better the next time around. This photo was taken over 25 years ago near Timbuktu in Mali and yet, it could probably be taken today as the region is embarking upon another famine right now.
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Micol Hebron