Philippe Halsman's Jump Book

by Philippe Halsman

Book Overview

With this beautiful facsimile edition, Damiani brings the classic 1959 photo-book back into print. Philippe Halsman's Jump Book gathers nearly 200 Halsman portraits of famous subjects in midair. These... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0810923386
• Release Date: October 1986
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.3" x 0.3" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

A Perfect Companion Piece to Austin Ratner's New Novel THE JUMP ARTIST

For those readers looking for an interesting way to coordinate a fascinating written biography with a collection of the works of the subject at hand, PHILIPPE HALSMAN'S JUMP BOOK is a perfect companion. This humorous, touching, sensitive selections of photographs by the distinguished celebrity portrait photographer Halsman is fine collection of some if his more memorable images. Until his death in 1979 Halsman had more images on the cover of LIFE magazine than any other photographer. Why? Because he was able to enter the privacy of very famous people with the gift of establishing a rapport that allowed each of the models to perform acts at times outrageous and at times simply fun. Included here are images of such a disparate group of luminaries as Andre Gide, Albert Einstein, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O'Keefe, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Rogers and Hammerstein, Lucille Ball, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Aldous Huxley, JFK, Judy Garland, Sid Caesar, Winston Churchill, Richard Nixon, Bob Hope, Groucho Marx and more. There is so much more to the final print of Halsman's portraits than meets the eye - and our knowledge of these people now makes Halsman's intuition even more astute! A highly entertaining and historically important book. Grady Harp, September 09

This Book Will Make You Smile

Some of us developed our love of photography from looking at the pictures in LIFE magazine. We probably didn't realize it at the time but the great Philippe Halsman influenced us more than any other photographer as he had more LIFE covers than any other artist. Many of his photographs are part of the American unconscious-- the beautifully cropped portrait of John Kennedy, Marily Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor et al. Mr. Halsman, while on photo assignments, came up with the most clever idea of asking his subjects to jump for him. This beautiful book containing photographs of 191 jumps is the result. This obviously persuasive photographer got statesmen, politicians, artists, actors, writers, scientists, theologians, comedians-- apparently just about everyone he asked-- to jump although some invitees said "no." They included Van Cliburn, Ed Murrow, Dag Hammarskjold, Herbert Hoover and most certainly Eleanor Roosevelt. (Tallulah Bankhead kept one foot on the ground.) I hadn't seen this book in several years. The two photographs I remembered with those of Salvador Dali and Marilyn Monroe. Other favorite shots are of Kitty Carlisle and Moss Hart, Shirley Temple, Joanne Woodward, Marcia Davenport, Adlai Stevenson, Grace Kelly and Judge Learned Hand as they jump. Mr. Halsman wrote a very thought-provoking introduction to this collection in which he gives his theories about "jumpology." He certainly writes with a great deal of insight as well as humor. Dame Edith Sitwell "could. . . barely walk. . . I did not ask her to jump because it was obvious that the only thing Dame Edith could do well was to sit well." Some of his statements ring true. I'm not ready to jump on some of the others. Mr. Halsman opines that usually we, to quote T. S. Eliot, put on a face to meet the faces," and hide our feelings under our facial masks. When we jump, however, our faces show our true selves. That makes perfectly good sense. Case in point: Richard Nixon still looks like a caricature of himself when he is jumping. The artists also has theories about why men jump with their arms pointed toward the ceiling-- one arm versus both arms-- the significance of crossing the arms, keeping the arms to one's side, the differences in what the same motions mean when applied to men and women, the significance of removing one's shoes, the position of the legs, etc. In short, a fascinating essay. (Of all the men who jumped for Mr. Halsman, the only male to remove his shoes, showing dapper, designer socks as we would expect, while keeping his double-breasted suit buttoned, was the Duke of Windsor. I wonder what all that means.) If you like photography or amateur psychology or just want to smile after a hard day at work, you should relax with this book.

A Classic.

What else can I say? It's lightweight material (but you knew that), but this book documents a bygone era in a unique and unforgettable way. There are many images in the book that alone are worth the purchase price. In particular I like the photo of all of the Eisenhower brothers caught in the midst of cracking up over a good joke.

"Jump" On This Book!

Philippe Halsman's Jump Book is not just for people who love photography. Oh no - no matter who you are, what your age, sex or nationality is, you will love this book. It has everything, from actors to politicians to artists and even royalty - up in the air! Each person has his own way of jumping. One hides her legs in her skirt, the other bends them and yet a third person will kick them as high as possible. I think each person's jump tells us a little bit about who he or she is, really. Each jump also has its own setting -some are indoors and some are outdoors, each person picking the place they want to be photographed at.The book is divided into sections, which makes it easy to compare people's jumps with their peers'. This is for the open-minded, as it is not your regular "straight" photography.If you're interested in more convetional pictures, I recommend Halsman's Portrait book, which is also beautiful.