Amateur Photographer - UK 2019-07-12)

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