|
Phillipe Halsman (1906-1979)
"A true portrait should,today and a hundred years from today, be the
Testimony of how this person looked and what kind of human being he was. Philippe Halsman (1972)
Born
in Riga, Latvia on May 2 1906.At the age of fifteen he came
across his father's Discarded view camera, immediately sparking
his imagination.After graduating first in high school Mr.Halsman
enrolled in the electrical engineering program at the University
of Dresn in Germany. After graduating, Mr Halsman relocated
in Paris (1930). In 1932 opened his first studio and his
work began appearing in magazines Such as vogue, vu, voila.Four
years later designs a 9x12 cm twin - lens reflex camera,
which is build by a
cabinetmaker whose grandfather (Alphonse Giroux) Made the first
camera for LOUIS-JAQUES- MANDE DAGUERRE one pf the inventors
of photography.
When Hitler's troops infiltrated Paris in 1940 Halsman found
him trapped under military rule because of his Latvian citizenship,
whithout a proper visa. His family had already immigrated to
America.
After several months of anxiety and struggle Mr. Halsman was
able to obtain an emergency visaThrough the intervention of
his friend ALBERT EINSTEIN. Mr. Halsman arrived to New York
in November of 1940 with nothing more than his camera Hanging
by his neck and a suitcase. Mr. Halsman was very quickly well
established in the local photographic community, in 1941Meets
the surrealist painter SALVADOR DALI, a year later shoots his
first front page cover for life magazine (he made 101 front
page cover's prior to the magazine disbanded The weekly edition).
In 1945 was
elected president of the American Society of Magazine Photographers.
He had an amazing ability to expose the personality of the
people he "shoots" without a bit of pretension, his
career made a breakthrough America's elite photographer.
He designs a better and improved camera (1947), a twin-lens
reflex with 4x5 inch. Format As a result of that, was to be
produced 3 prototypes Known as halsman-fairchild.
A year later (1948) and 8 years from the time he step his foot
to America Halsman takes the American citizenship. Chosen
as one of the 'worlds ten greatest photographers' in an
international poll conducted by popular photography in
1958 " Helped" him to become 4 years later a
member in an elite group of photographers including Irving
Penn, Richard Avedon and others, they created the Famous
Photographers School .In 1963 honored with the Newhouse
citation for his personal offer to journalism, from the
Syracuse University - school of journalism.In 1969 makes
a portrait of RICHARD NIXON and becomes official
photographer of the president of USA.He received the American
Society of Magazine Photographers award in 1975 (four years
before his death) for life achievement in photography.Mr. Halsman
died in New York on June 25 of 1979.
His portfolio's included pictures of: Á.ÅINSTEIN,
M. MONROE, A.HITCKOCK, R. KENNEDY, R.NIXON, S.DALI, A HEPBURN, P.PICASSO,
W.ALLEN, J.COCTEAU, P.SELLERS, G.OKEEFE, M.BRANDON, B.BARDOT,
W.CHURCHILL, B.CLARK.
Noticeable
collaboration was with French poet, writer, filmmaker JEAN
COCTEAU, Photos included in halsman a retrospective (published
after his death).Famous and inspiring work of his, was the "jump
book" in earlier fifties, consisting the subjects to
jump to the air, no matter how famous they where they all
agreed Halsman's ideas. After a while the tendency of his
was called jumpology
He believed in provoking the subject, pushing them reveal the
real unseen self. Halsman was a student of the face and the
human forms.
Surrealism - photography (a thirty year old friendship)
"When I was three I waned to be a cook, when I was six, Napoleon since then my ambitions do nothing but grow."
Salvador Dali
Dali
(1904-1989) was one of the most important art-figures
in the history of art: eccentric, self-centered, multy
- talented, genius, crazy (?), he was interested for
photography from his earlier days, he had collaborated
with many
photographers as MARC LACROIX, (Dali worked with him
in a series of visual experiments) MAN RAY, ERIC SCHAAL,
CECIL BEATON, DON QUIXOTE.
The bigger collaboration (from a time point of view) was
with Philippe Halsman Which created a thirty-year friendship. The
period from 1936 to 1939 was overshadowed from political
events (Spanish civil war-world war two). Dali also was
informed the death of his old friend FREDERICO GARCIA LORCA,
and he decided to self exiled along with Gala to America,
where he met Mr. Halsman in Hollywood. The drops of Atomic
Bombs, in 1945 (Hiroshima- Nagasaki), Absorbed Dali in
nuclear science, and Atom become his obsession. Dali plus
Halsman both decided To make an interesting surrealistic
achievement, a photograph Based in Dali's paint LEDA ATOMICA
(the Greek legend of Leda and the swan) which will Present
Dali jumping on the air as he paints, also 3 cats, a chair
and water all suspended on midair.It was so complicated;
it took 26 attempts to get, 4 assistants, Mss. Halsman and
several hours in Halsmans studio.Dali suggested stuffing
a duck with dynamite and then exploding it as he jumps.
Halsman vetoed that the idea was not only cruel but also
probably illegal, They didn't stop until they where both
satisfied by the result. Insisting so much was probably
the only way to make such a remarkable and surrealistic
photo as Dali's Atomicus .
Despite the many times they worked together (exhibition
posters, magazines, surrealistic editions etch.) The most
complet collaboration was the creation of a series of photographs
(Published as a book in 1954), about Dali's mustache. It
was a photographic interview from Halsman to Dali, where
image and speech " bonded " together. Very surrealistic
images, the dialoguemis very tricky And clever, also the
back pages (with all the "made off"-backstage
scenes) are quite interesting. The result makes you wonder
who is crazier, they or you, who made the choice to buy
this book!!
"Dali likes me taking his picture because he is interest in pictures that do not simply reproduce reality. Even in photos he
prefers toappear outside reality .That is surrealistic! ."Philippe Halsman
Dali died ten years after Mr. Halsman's death with obvious health problems and mental instability, (he had the idea of immortality
stacked in his head until the end).
BOOKS
The Frenchman (1949)
Picolli , a fairy tale (1953)
Dali's mustache (1954)
Philippe Halsman's jump book (1959)
Philippe Halsman on the creation of photographic ideas (1961)
Sight and insight (1972)
Halsman portraits (1982)
Halsman at work with Yvonne Halsman (1989)
Halsman a retrospective (1998)
FOTOART 2003 © THEOFANIS LOGOTHETIS
|
|
