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Before there were the Lacoste airborne ads and the Vogue editorials, there was Phillippe Halsman's 1959 "Jump Book" in which he photographed leading actors and actresses, including Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, and Audrey Hepburn, jumping, basically.
While the models tend to take it a little too seriously now, struggling to maintain composed faces, in Halsman's book the best part is the lighthearted, happy quality that the pose brought out in everyone, even those who were usually concentrating on sexy or sophisticated image-control. Probably the most amusing pictures from the book are those of serious men in business suits, letting go and having a good time for once.
I'm glad that such a simple, but unconventional, idea for portraiture is coming back into style in a big way -- couldn't we all do with a little bit more whimsy and a little less pretension in fashion? It's supposed to be fun, afterall.
3 comments:
I have read that you lived in Barcelona for a while, didn't you?
Entonces hablarás español bien, no? Jaja, hace muchos años que viviste aquí?
Sí, yo vivía allí, solo es desde el junio pasado que he regrasado a los eeuu, pero quizás volveré a europa :)
Vives tú en Barcelona? Está todavia La Paloma cerrada? -- esto fue uno de mis lugares favoritos allí
Hey Katie - if you pinch-a-pic from the web, it would be nice to credit them! We could use the link. The image of Halsman's marvelous Jump Book came from our listing of this title at Optos Books.
Optos Books: Rare and Out-of-Print Books on Design with a modernist bent and an eye for the unusual.
Optos Books specializes in books on the history of modern design in numerous categories (Photography & Fashion Design among them), offers a searchable online database and book locating services for designers and clients - particularly for the professional working on a project with a specific design directive.
Visit us - and it isn't all online - so ask!
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