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Synopses & Reviews
With this beautiful facsimile edition, Damiani brings the classic 1959 photo-book back into print. Philippe Halsman's Jump Book
gathers nearly 200 Halsman portraits of famous subjects in midair.
These uniquely witty and energetic images of airborne movie stars,
politicians, royalty, artists and authors have become an important part
of Halsman's photographic legacy.
For a period of six years in the
mid-1950s, Halsman ended his portrait sessions by asking his sitters to
jump. Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, Edward Steichen, Audrey Hepburn,
Robert Oppenheimer, John Steinbeck, Weegee, Aldous Huxley, Marc Chagall,
Salvador Dalí, Brigitte Bardot and Groucho Marx all took the leap of
faith. It is a tribute to Halsman's powers of persuasion that even
Richard Nixon, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and other figures not
famed for their spontaneity were talked into "rising" to the challenge.
Philippe Halsman's Jump Book
was first published in 1959, and included a delightful essay by Halsman
on the new science of "Jumpology." "When you ask a person to jump,"
Halsman wrote, "his attention is mostly directed toward the act of
jumping, and the mask falls, so that the real person appears." The
images are witty, energetic and unexpected.
Review
"A portrait photographer for Life magazine in the 1950s, Halsman asked
many of his subjects to jump for his camera. Here are shots of 191
celebrities in the air, ranging from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to
John Steinbeck. This edition also includes previously unpublished shots,
of Lucille Ball and Art Carney among others. A delightful exercise.
(October)" Publisher's Weekly
About the Author
Portrait photographer Philippe Halsman (1906-79) was born in
Riga, Latvia. The Second World War forced Halsman to flee to New York in
1940, where he established himself as an in-demand portrait
photographer, shooting covers for virtually every major American
magazine.