Jump - A Book That'll Make You Smile
Such a simple concept and yet so joyful. Jump by portrait photographer Philippe Halsman is perhaps the most joyous book printed in the 20th century. It's simply contains pictures of people jumping into the air. The pictures are special and the people are exceptional. It puts a smile on the face of the reader.
Born in Riga in what is now Latvia, Halsman (1906-1979) rose to prominence in Paris where he worked in fashion magazine photography. When Germany invaded France in World War II, Halsman, whose parents were Jewish, fled to the United States.
The American magazine industry embraced his portrait skills and he began to shoot cover images for prominent magazines such as Time and Life. Numerous famous people were captured by Halsman's camera, including the likes of Albert Einstein, Groucho Marx and Bob Hope.
A true student of portrait photography, he noticed that people were relaxed and happy while jumping for a posed photograph. There's little stiffness or formality when the photographer says 'jump as high as you can.'
In 1959, he published Philippe Halsman's Jump Book, which contains photographs of celebrities and people of significance in mid-air. It's quite the list. Marc Chagall, Jayne Mansfield, Shirley Temple, Brigitte Bardot, Julie Andrews, Anthony Perkins, Richard Nixon, Marilyn Monroe, Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Salvador Dali, and many more. Our favorite is Grace Kelly, grinning like a Cheshire cat and pulling up the hems of her skirt.
You are now looking at the Abrams edition from 1986. The 1959 editions are usually priced in three figures while copies of the 1986 edition can be picked up cheaply. There are also later editions in French and German. We took the book around the office and it put a smile on the face on every person who saw it.
The Dali image is particularly notable, cats and water flying in all directions. It's beyond surreal and borders on utter madness. Halsman's collaboration with Dali resulted in a 1954 book called Dali's Mustache. Again, later editions of this book can be purchased for a song.
There are several other Halsman books to consider. There's The Frenchman: A Photographic Interview with Fernandel where Halsman posed questions about America to French comic actor Fernandel who only responded with a facial expression. Also Philippe Halsman: A Retrospective. Photographs From the Halsman Family Collection and Philippe Halsman: Astonish Me!.
His 1961 book Halsman on the Creation of Photographic Ideas is intended to be a handbook for budding photographers.
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