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Self-Portrait on Tripod

Self-Portrait on Tripod
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Philippe Halsman, 02 May 1906 - 25 Jun 1979
Sitter
Philippe Halsman, 02 May 1906 - 25 Jun 1979
Date
1950
Type
Photograph
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 34.8 x 27.4 cm (13 11/16 x 10 13/16")
Sheet: 35.3 x 27.9 cm (13 7/8 x 11")
Mat: 71.1 × 55.9 cm (28 × 22")
Topic
Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses
Self-portrait
Interior\Studio\Photography
Philippe Halsman: Male
Philippe Halsman: Visual Arts\Artist\Photographer
Philippe Halsman: Visual Arts\Artist\Photographer\Fashion photographer
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Philippe Halsman Archive
Object number
NPG.2002.106
Exhibition Label
Philippe Halsman was one of many Europeans who fled the rise of Nazism in Germany; Albert Einstein, a family friend, arranged for his visa in 1940. Soon after arriving in the United States, Halsman found work with American magazines, photographing celebrities and other notables. He continued this work for over thirty years, generating more than one hundred covers for Life. Halsman was also known for his whimsical, fantastic imagination and his interest in Surrealism. In one of his series of portraits, he asked famous subjects to leap into the air, and his complex collaboration with the artist Salvador Dalí led to his famous 1948 photograph of Dalí leaping with three airborne cats alongside a splash of water. This self-portrait shows Halsman becoming his camera. His head rests atop the tripod’s fixed plate, and his hand is cranking the worm gear sector that adjusts the angle of the plate for controlling and panning the camera.
Philippe Halsman fue uno de los muchos europeos que escaparon del dominio del nazismo en Alemania. Fue Albert Einstein, amigo de la familia, quien le tramitó la visa en 1940. Poco después de llegar a Estados Unidos consiguió empleo con revistas como fotógrafo de celebridades y otros personajes. Siguió trabajando por treinta años y creó más de cien portadas para la revista Life.
A Halsman se le conocía también por su imaginación fantasiosa y su interés en el surrealismo. Para una de sus series de retratos, pidió a figuras famosas que saltaran en el aire; su colaboración con el pintor Salvador Dalí produjo en 1948 la conocida foto donde aparece Dalí saltando con tres gatos en el aire y un arco formado por un chorro de agua. Este autorretrato muestra a Halsman transfor- mado en su cámara. Tiene la cabeza apoyada sobre el soporte del trípode y con la mano hace girar la manivela que ajusta el ángulo del soporte para mover la cámara.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view