Philippe Halsman
(May 2,1906 – June 29, 1979) Riga, Russia
(May 2,1906 – June 29, 1979) Riga, Russia
Halsman was born in Riga to Morduch (Maks) Halsman, a dentist, and Ita Grintuch, a school principal. He studied electrical engineering in Dresdan. In September 1928, 22-year-old Halsman was accused for the murder of his father while they were on a hiking trip in the Austrian Tyrol, an area rife with antisemitism. After a trial based on circumstantial evidence he was sentenced to four years of prison. His family, friends and barristers worked for his release, getting support from important European intellectuals including Freud, Einstein, Thomas Mann, Henri Hertz, and Paul Painlevé, who pleaded for his innocence. His release took place in 1930
Halsman consequently left Austria for France. He began contributing to fashion magazines such as Vogue and soon gained a reputation as one of the best portrait photographers in France, renowned for images that were sharp rather than in soft focus as was often used, and closely cropped. Halsman soon fled to Marselle. He eventually managed to obtain a U.S. visa, aided by family friend Albert Einstein (whom he later famously photographed in 1947).
Halsman's most famous portrait; Mournful Einstein.
In 1941 Halsman met the surrealist artist Salvador Dali; they began to collaborate in the late 1940s. The 1948 work, Dalí Atomicus explores the idea of suspension, depicting three cats flying, a bucket of thrown water, and Dalí in mid air. The title of the photograph is a reference to Dalí's work Leda Atomica, which can be seen in the right of the photograph behind the two cats.
Dalí Atomicus (1948)
"the rule of the direct approach,"
"the rule of the unusual technique,"
"the rule of the added unusual feature,"
"the rule of the missing feature,"
"the rule of compounded features,"
"the rule of the literal or ideographic method." - Halsman's Rules of Photography.
Salvador Dali portrait.
Halsman's Self Portrait.
