Word: halsman
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...Philippe Halsman is recognized as a master portrait photographer. A native of Riga, Latvia. Halsman studied engineering in Germany, but gave it up for photography. He was a top fashion photographer in Paris before he came to the United States in 1940. He did his first Life magazine cover in 1942, and since then has done one hundred more as well as countless others for leading national magazines. This interview was held in Mr. Halsman's studio in New York...
...HALSMAN: When I was fourteen, I discovered photography. Rummaging in my father's closet, I found a discarded 9 x 12 cm view camera. With my allowance money, I bought a dozen plates and photographed my sister near the window. I developed the plate in our bathroom by the light of a ruby-red bulb. It was one of the most magical moments of my life. In the dim red light I watched, wide-eyed, a miracle: the gradual appearance of dark outlines on the milky surface of my plate, forming the first photographic image I had taken. I became...
...HALSMAN: My father wanted me to study medicine, but I thought that electrical engineering was the great profession of the future. After my father died, I went to Paris to continue my studies. Gradually, my slight interest in photography grew into a burning passion. Suddenly, I realized that, in spite of successfully passing all theoretical exams, I had not talent for the mechanical side of engineering. All my creative urges were stifled while I pursued my rather arid studies. At that time the social status of a photographer was not much higher than the status of a barber or waiter...
...HALSMAN: All my life I was more interested in the functioning of the human psyche than in the functioning of machines. Watching the ever changing expressions of a face, I could often read the thoughts and emotions of my interlocutor. Thus, immediately the face became the main subject of my photography. I was not adverse to photographing still-lifes, street scenes or landscapes, but the capturing of an expression that reflected the essence of a human being seemed of greater import...
...Cover: Photograph by Philippe Halsman...