emyudoh-blog

[emyudoh-blog]

What goes up must come down.

The Picture That Started it All

About the Photographer

Philippe Halsman was a Latvia born photographer is moved to America around 1940 after Albert Einstein, and old friend of his, helped him escape the Nazi invasion in France. It was in the United States where Halsman met the surrealist Salvador Dali and started a series that would go one to span nearly four decades. In this particular photo, Philippe Halsman was insistent to reject Salvador Dali’s idea of blowing up a duck while as well in the photograph. Fortunately for Halsman, the photo was a success, despite the lack of exploding ducks, and he went on to photograph many famous figures of his time such as Audrey Hepburn, Richard Nixon, and Muhammed Ali.

About the Photo

The photo, entitled Dali Atomicus, uses one of Halsman’s techniques of “jumpology”. By having Dali, the man in the photograph, jumping, Philippe Halsman hopes that Dali’s attention will be focused on jumping, thus revealing the “real person”. Dali also includes the artwork, the Leda Atomica, that he was working on in the photograph as the Dali Atomicus was based off of it. 

Why This Photo

I was first drawn to this picture because of how chaotic everything in the picture looks. Not only is the picture in disorder, but everything that is in the picture seems random with no correlation. For instance, Halsman had his wife throw cats across the from, while his daughter threw a bucket of water on Dali, and Halsman’s assistant holds up a chair. Even though all of these elements seem to be random they all somehow fit into the picture as they are in a standstill in the air. Irene, Philippe Halsman’s daughter, said that Dali and Halsman, “collaborated and made the most outrageous pictures.” Which is why I think others should be drawn to this photo, because in today’s society everyone is so used to everything being in its “right place”. Not everything needs to be perfectly staged, Halsman took many photos before he decided that this was the one he wanted to send to Life magazine.

Philippe Halsman in the MOMA The Story Behind the Photograph

100 Photos. (n.d.). The Most Influential Images of All Time. Retrieved May 14, 2019 from http://100photos.time.com/photos/philippe-halsman-dali-atomicus

Artsy. (2018). The Story behind the Surreal Photograph of Salvador Dali and Three Flying Cats. Retrieved May 14, 2019 from 

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-story-surreal-photograph-salvador-dali-three-flying-cats

Artsy [Photograph]. The Story behind the Surreal Photograph of Salvador Dali and Three flying Cats. Retrieved May 14, 2019 from https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-story-surreal-photograph-salvador-dali-three-flying-cats

MoMA. (n.d.). Dali Atomicus. Retrieved May 14, 2019 from https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-story-surreal-photograph-salvador-dali-three-flying-cats