"Come on, jump for me?"

One of the points of the students writing a blog is so that we can expland our knowledge of photographers in the world and do some research. I have chosen Phillipe Halsman. I chose this photographer because his "Dali Atomicus" caught my eye while I was searching for an artist. I spent at least 15 minutes looking at this photograph.

"How the Photograph was Made:

The photograph was made in the New York Studio of Philippe Halsman in 1948. The photograph was taken with Halsman's 4 x 5 format twin lens reflex camera. In order to make the photograph, the easel, two Dali paintings, and the step stool were suspended from the ceiling by strings. So these items were easy, since they were really held in the air by string. Halsman's wife held the chair in the air. Note that one leg of the chair is not in the picture. His wife is holding the leg of the chair that is out of the picture. So, all of these items while appearing to be part of the massive confusion and motion of the picture, are actually fixed in place.
The parts that are moving, and that required the precise timing are the cats, water and Dali himself. Yes, the cats are in fact flying through the air as they appear to be in the picture. The timing sequence was pretty simple. Halsman began to count, and on three his assistants threw the cats, and the water, and then on four Dali jumped in the air, and then Halsman would take the picture. Of course to get the perfect picture took not only careful timing but good luck as well. After taking a picture, Halsman would immediately go to the dark room and develop it. He would then come back and try again. It took a number of tries to get the perfect timing and perfect picture. Halsman wrote that it took six hours and twenty-eight throws to get the picture that we now know as Dali's atomicus. Halsman indicated that the cats were not harmed in the making of the photograph." -www.fantasyarts.net

I mean, one, it's Salvador Dali. He got to work with Salvador Dali. Let me repeat, Salvador Dali. How cool is that? Although, the circumstances under which they got to meet weren't so cool. According to wikipedia, (I haven't found anything disputing it yet) Halsman was forced to leave his home in Austria because he was accused of killing his father on a hike in the Alps. The feds got him and claimed he killed his father when the father died of traumatic head injuries. He was imprisioned for four years and was let out on the demand that he left Austria to never return. Soooo, he went to france from there.  When France was invaded, he got outta dodge and got a visa for America and hit the old dusty trial. That's where he met Dali. He began taking photographs here in the US and landed himself jobs at magazines and different advertisements.
 Then he did something really fascinating. And he was so darn charming that he got some really important people to help him out with this project, including the Ford family, Richard Nixon, Marilyn Monroe, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, etc. He got them to....Jump. he did a study on jumping.

 He wrote an entire book on it. The man is a genius. (Can't say I'd be the brave soul to try and catch the cat though. I suppose it's really good that they can land on their feet every time.) I am straight up amazed by the man at this point. He was named one of the top 10 greatest photographers in the world as well as winning awards and having numerous exhibitions. There's even a movie about him! It's called Jump! I think I'll go rent it. Or maybe even visit Amazon. Who knows. What I know is that this man was incredible at what he did, and it's not just me spreading the word.