I’m fairly new to the world of photography, and have only just discovered the works of Latvian photographer Philippe Halsman (1906-1979).
And I’m amazed. I love his eye for composition, and the way he managed to establish a strong, silent, yet very visible dialogue with his objects. According to Halsman, the fascinating results of his many encounters with artists, stars and other celebrities, were much due to his psychology skills, his trick being to “provoke the victim, amusing him with jokes, lulling him with silence, or asking impertinent questions which his best friend would be afraid to voice”. He even developed his own, quite amusing, but rather sensible, theory about jumping. Jumpology, Halsman liked to refer to it as, saying, “when you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears”. Quite right. Hope you enjoy these selected works as much as I have.
5 Comments
October 7, 2007 at 12:38 am
Thanks for introducing me to Philippe Halsman – the father of jumpology.
Lou Lou
October 16, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Hi Lou Lou,
My pleasure! One of the reasons I started blogging was to (hopefully) introduce people to new stuff, good stuff, stuff I think it’s worth introducing people to. So thank you right back
L
April 8, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I must say this is the best blog I have ever read:) and I’ll be reading more of it, hopefully. You’ve been added to my favourites! Thanks a lot for the great stuff and positive spirit!
April 13, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Thank you very much, mistbubble! Busy days have led to a bit of a blog break recently, but there’ll be more to come in the near future – watch this space!
Love and respect,
L
September 27, 2008 at 11:54 am
[...] was a photographer for Life in the 40s and 50s, and is the father of ‘jumpology‘. He believed that in a jump, the subject cannot control their facial muscles, hence [...]