Once upon of time there was no Photoshop,( yes, you have to trust me on this) and back then, the things were made different with much effort and a lot of fun.
Today I'm going to talk about the meeting between Philippe Halsman and Salvador Dalí. The first one was a great photographer from the '30 and the second one was a brilliant surrealist mind. The result from this meeting- a surrealist picture :)
Before I unveil how this picture was made, I have to be sure that you remember part 1, don't you? In case you've missed it here it is :)
As I said, before the age of Photoshop, there was Philippe Halsman. His dynamic and imaginative photography broke the rules of the day by going against the soft focus style of the time and giving sharp focus to his subjects. He used both stage and darkroom techniques to produce gravity defying objects and invented new ways of interacting with subjects.
In 1941, American photographer Philippe Halsman met the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí in New York City and they began to collaborate in the late 1940s. The 1948 work Dali Atomicus explores the idea of suspension, depicting three cats flying, water thrown from a bucket, an easel, a footstool and Salvador Dalí all seemingly suspended in mid-air.
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The title of the photograph is a reference to Dalí's work Leda Atomica (at that which can be seen in the right of the photograph behind the two cats.) Halsman reported that it took 28 attempts to be satisfied with the result. This is the unretouched version of the photograph that was published in LIFE magazine. In this version the wires suspending the easel and the painting, the hand of the assistant holding the chair and the prop holding up the footstool can still be seen. The frame on the easel is still empty.
Here are more pictures from the photo session
Inspiring, don't you think?
Love,
ralu