Philippe Halsman Quotes

• When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears.

  Philippe Halsman

  Photography, Real, Fall

  72 Copy quote

• I drifted into photography like one drifts into prostitution. First I did it to please myself, then I did it to please my friends, and eventually I did it for the money.

  Philippe Halsman

  Photography, Firsts, Prostitution

  74 Copy quote

• This fascination with the human face has never left me... Every face I see seems to hide and sometimes, fleetingly, to reveal the mystery of another human being... Capturing this revelation became the goal and passion of my life.

  Philippe Halsman

  Passion, Goal, Fascination

  41 Copy quote

• A true portrait should, today and a hundred years from today, the Testimony of how this person looked and what kind of human being he was

  Philippe Halsman

  Years, Portraits, Today

  43 Copy quote

• The head of the photographer is more important than his camera

  Philippe Halsman

  Important, Cameras, Photographer

  31 Copy quote

• In a jump, the subject, in a sudden burst of energy, overcomes gravity. He cannot simultaneously control his expressions, his facial and his limb muscles. The mask falls. The real self becomes visible. One only has to snap it with the camera.

  Philippe Halsman

  Real, Fall, Self

  Philippe Halsman (1981). “The Mask Falls: Psychological Portraits by Philippe Halsman : a Retrospective Collection of Images from the Photographer's Studio, to be Sold by Public Auction, Friday, November 13, 1981, at 7:00 P.m. at Harris Auction Galleries”

  32 Copy quote

• No photographer should be blamed when, instead of capturing reality, he tries to show things he has seen only in his imagination. Photography is the youngest art form. All attempts to enlarge its frontiers are important and should be encouraged.

  Philippe Halsman

  Photography, Art, Reality

  Yvonne Halsman, Philippe Halsman (1989). “Halsman at work: Philippe Halsman and Yvonne Halsman”, Harry N Abrams Inc

  37 Copy quote

• A good portrait is incredibly hard to create, there is too much temptation to pander to the individual rather than portray them as they really were

  Philippe Halsman

  Temptation, Portraits, Too Much

  38 Copy quote

• The word "photography" can be interpreted as "writing with light" or "drawing with light." Some photographers are producing beautiful photographs by drawing with light.. Some other photographers are trying to tell something with their photographs. They are writing with light.

  Philippe Halsman

  Beautiful, Photography, Writing

  39 Copy quote

• Dali likes me taking his picture because he is interested in pictures that do not simply reproduce reality. Even in photos he prefers to appear outside reality .That is surrealistic!

  Philippe Halsman

  Reality, Likes

  25 Copy quote

• In my serious work I am striving for the essence of things and for goals which are possibly unobtainable. On the other hand, everything humorous has great attraction for me, and a childish streak leads me into all kinds of frivolous endeavour.

  Philippe Halsman

  Humorous, Hands, Essence

  25 Copy quote

• Most people stiffen with self-consciousness when they pose for a photograph. Lighting and fine camera equipment are useless if the photographer cannot make them drop the mask, at least for a moment, so he can capture on his film their real, undistorted personality and character.

  Philippe Halsman

  Real, Character, Self

  21 Copy quote

• The immortal photographers will be straightforward photographers, those who do not rely on tricks or special techniques.

  Philippe Halsman

  Special, Technique, Photographer

  32 Copy quote

• Of the thousands of people, celebrated and unknown, who have sat before my camera, I am often asked who was the most difficult subject, or the easiest, or which picture is my favorite. This last question is like asking a mother which child she likes the most

  Philippe Halsman

  Mother, Children, People

  22 Copy quote

• I am often asked which picture is my favorite. This is like asking a mother which child she likes the most.

  Philippe Halsman

  Mother, Children, Asking

  12 Copy quote

• Herein lies the main objective of portraiture and also its main difficulty. The photographer probes for the innermost. The lens sees only the surface... .

  Philippe Halsman

  Lying, Lenses, Portraiture

  Philippe Halsman (1972). “Halsman sight and insight”

  16 Copy quote

• When the photographer Philippe Halsman said, 'Jump,' no one asked how high. People simply pushed off or leapt up to the extent that physical ability and personal decorum allowed. In that airborne instant Mr. Halsman clicked the shutter. He called his method jumpology.
  The idea of having people jump for the camera can seem like a gimmick, but it is telling that jumpology shares a few syllables with psychology. As Halsman, who died in 1979, said, 'When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping, and the mask falls, so that the real person appears.'

  Philippe Halsman

  Real, Fall, Ideas

  25 Copy quote

• With a woman I try to photograph her beauty; with a man I try to show his character. Once I photographed a man with a big nose (Jimmy Durante), and emphasized his nose, and he was very pleased with the picture. That could not happen with a woman. The most intelligent woman will reject a portrait if it doesn't flatter her.

  Philippe Halsman

  Character, Intelligent, Men

  "The Mask Falls: Psychological Portraits by Philippe Halsman".

  14 Copy quote

• I know of few actresses who have this incredible talent for communicating with a camera lens. She would try to seduce a camera as if it were a human being.

  Philippe Halsman

  Trying, Actresses, Cameras

  15 Copy quote

• [Revealing character] can't be done by pushing the person into position or arranging his head at a certain angle. It must be accomplished by provoking the victim, amusing him with jokes, lulling him with silence, or asking impertinent questions which his best friend would be afraid to voice.

  Philippe Halsman

  Character, Voice, Silence

  12 Copy quote

• Marilyn was history's most phenomenal love goddess.

  Philippe Halsman

  God Love, Goddess, Phenomenal

  14 Copy quote

• I make the woman look at the camera as a symbol of all the eyes that will see the picture I am making.

  Philippe Halsman

  Eye, Cameras, Looks

  14 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

Salvador Dali

Richard Avedon

Man Ray

Yousuf Karsh

Irving Penn

Robert Capa

Cecil Beaton

Elliott Erwitt