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.

Marissa Roth


Marissa Roth
Minor White, Moon & Wall Encrustations, Pultneyville, NY, 1964
This image speaks of the mystery and technology of photography. It appears to be a drawing of a phantasmagorical landscape, and yet it is a straight photograph of a worn wall, interpreted with incredible vision.

I came upon this image when I was just starting out as a photographer and loved the magic evoked in the carefully interpreted and crafted print made by White. By choosing to print the negative in high contrast, White created an altered reality, inviting the viewer to constantly discover something new with each regard of the image.

His work has been a continued source of inspiration for me. I love the drama rendered in the contrast and contradiction of light and shadow. White's use of chiaroscuro, witnessed in most of his work, informed my own photography and vision, and I continue to think of the magic that is possible to achieve in a single frame.
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Micol Hebron