Who is Philippe Halsman?

Who is Philippe Halsman?

Philippe Halsman (1906-1979) was born in Riga, Latvia. He studied engineering in Dresden before moving to Paris, where he set up his photographic studio in 1932. Halsman’s bold, spontaneous style won him many admirers.

What did Halsman study in Paris?

In Paris, Halsman studied the work of other artists and photographers, especially the surrealists, from whom he learned to make images that surprised his viewers. By including homely, and ultimately disturbing, details, he gave his subjects memorable tension.

Why did Halsman take pictures of Jean Cocteau?

In 1949, Halsman received an assignment from LIFE Magazine to photograph Jean Cocteau, a French artist, playwright, and avant-garde figurehead. The assignment was to create a photo series representing what goes on inside the poet’s mind.

What did the collaboration between Philippe Halsman and Salvador Dali result in?

The collaboration between Philippe Halsman and Salvador Dali resulted in a more physical style of surrealist photography.

Philippe Halsman was at one point considered the best photo-portraitist in France. He had an incessant interest in faces: “Every face I see seems to hide—and sometimes fleetingly reveal—the mystery of another human being.” Halsman’s photographs of politicians, celebrities, and intellectuals were featured widely in magazines like LIFE and Vogue.

What did Halsman do for fashion?

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.

What was the relationship between Philippe Halsman and Salvador Dalí like?

Though they were two creative minds at the height of their careers, the relationship between Dalí and Halsman was never competitive, as Irene Halsman explained in a 2016 video about the photograph for Time. “Dalí never really wanted to photograph; Philippe never really wanted to pick up a paintbrush,” she said.

Who are some famous people who have been photographed by Halsman?

In 1951 Halsman was commissioned by NBC to photograph various popular comedians of the time including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Groucho Marx, and Bob Hope.

LIFE photographer Philippe Halsman poised w. camera in serious portrait. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) He may never have been on LIFE’S staff, but Philippe Halsman (1906-1979) will always be considered one of the magazine’s most important photographers.

What was Halsman’s first portrait?

In his first portrait of a famous subject, Halsman photographed the French author Andre Gide in the mid-1930’s. Though the photograph is fairly unremarkable when compared to Halsman’s later work, it gives us an insight into the possibilities of sharpness explored by Halsman.