82 6 July 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
Legends
of photography
I
fyou’rea portrait
photographer,youwill
haveonekeyconcern
onanyshoot:howcan
youbestfacilitatea working
environmentwherethesubject
revealsthemselvestothe
camera. Every photographer
Philippe
Halsman
islookingforthatoneframe
wherethesittershowsa side
ofthemselvesthatordinarily
remainshidden.Themajority
ofusprefertoremaininvisible,
closedofftopryingeyes,
particularlywhenthegazeis
coming from the cold, hard
portraiture.Hiscareertookoff
inParisinthe1930s,wherehe
photographedsomeoftheera’s
best-knownartistsandwriters,
includingdesignpolymathLe
CorbusierandauthorAndré
Gide,allofwhichheshotwith
a self-designedtwin-lensreflex
camera.Someyearslater,
Halsmanwassweptupinthe
massdiasporaofartistsand
intellectualswhofledtheNazis
andlandedintheUnited
Statesinthe1940s.Infact,it
wasthroughthehelpofAlbert
EinsteinthatHalsmanandhis
familywereabletosecurea
visa.Overthenextthree
decades,Halsmanwasableto
securehisplaceasa sought-
afterphotographerwho
workedwitha varietyofmajor
publicationsandhadhis
imagesfeaturedona whopping
101 coversofLIFEmagazine.
Theartofthejump
Inthe1950s,Halsmanhit
upona novelidea,onethathe
framedina kindoftheoretical
philosophy:hebeganasking
hissubjectstojump.Onthe
surface,thisseemslikea
whimsicalidea,butwhenyou
seetheimagesyoubeginto
understandHalsman’s
thinking.Ineachofthe
portraits,weseethe
subjectsrevealed.There’sa
vulnerabilityondisplay.Their
bodyandmindarecompletely
concernedwiththephysicalact
ofthejump.It leavesnoroom
toconcernthemselveswith
remainingguarded.Ineachof
theshots,weseetheabsolute
joyondisplay.
Halsman’slegacyisn’tjustthat
hefounda uniqueandplayful
waytoshoot.It’sthathe
succeededinfindinga wayto
trulyrevealthesubject.‘Every
faceI seeseemstohide– and
sometimesfleetinglytoreveal
- themysteryofanotherhuman
being,’Halsmanoncesaid.
‘Capturingthisrevelationbecame
thegoalandpassionofmylife.’
Byaskinghissubjectstofling
themselvesintotheair,hefound
it.It wassosimple,yetin
many ways, so profound.
PhilippeHalsmanhada uniquewayof
makinghissubjectsrevealthemselves,
asOliver Atwell discovers
stareofa cameralens.Some
photographerssimplytalkto
theirsubjectsandwaitforthe
revealofa reaction.Legend
hasit thatwhilephotographing
theDukeandDuchessof
Windsor,RichardAvedontold
thema fabricatedtaleofa
dogbeingrunoverbyhistaxi.
Theheartbrokenlookofthe
pairbecamethekeyframe.
Thankfully,PhilippeHalsman’s
technique,illustratedhere,was
a littlelesscallous.
Unlessyou’refamiliarwith
Halsman’swork,it’sunlikely
you’veheardtheterm
‘jumpology’before,butthis
imageoftheactorRayBolger
shouldgiveyoua fairlysolid
idea.Latvian-bornHalsman
wasa photographerwho
wasknownforhisvibrant
and kinetic approach to
© CBS PHOTO ARCHIVE
ActorRayBolger,who
playedthescarecrowin
TheWizardofOz, jumps
for Halsman’s camera
© PHILIPPE HALSMAN/MAGNUM PHOTOS