12 Previously Unseen 20th-Century Celebrity Portraits Found In Philippe Halsman’s Archives
"A true portrait should, today and a hundred years from today, be the testimony of how this person looked and what kind of human being he was," said Philippe Halsman.
Not everyone with a camera is a portrait photographer. Taking a photo that would capture the essence of the person in front takes commitment and dedication. One such great photographer was Latvian-born Philippe Halsman (1906-1979), whose work to this day reminds us of iconic 20th-century celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Salvador Dali, and Frank Sinatra.
Philippe's grandson, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, became an accidental archivist who looked through old contact sheets and found outtakes that had never been seen before. Later, he published the book 'Unknown Halsman' for people to see some of those hidden gems as Halsman's legacy to the world.
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12 PHOTOS
#1 Joyce Bryant
In a previous interview, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg shared about his artistic family lineage: "I come from a lineage of artists, Philippe was my grandfather, and my grandmother Yvonne was his assistant and an excellent photographer in her own right. My mom is an artist and art teacher, so it's in the DNA and I am continuing the tradition of playful, mysterious, and innovative art. Unfortunately, my grandfather died while I was a child, so I never really got to know him, but I have all of his images, letters, and audio tapes, so I feel like I have a good sense of who he was."
#2 Anjelica Huston
#3 Eartha Kitt
Oliver shared that when his grandmother passed, he had to go through their files and found photos by his grandfather that had never been published before. This inspired Oliver to release a book that would reintroduce Philippe Halsman’s work to the world.
#4 Lauren Bacall
#5 Tippi Hedren
Here is what Phillipe Halsman wrote about his portraiture: “My great interest in life has been people. A human being changes continuously throughout life. His thoughts and moods change, his expressions and even his features change. And here we come to the crucial problem of portraiture. If the likeness of a human being consists of an infinite number of different images, which one of these images should we try to capture? For me, the answer has always been, the image that reveals most completely both the exterior and the interior of the subject. Such a picture is called a portrait.”
#6 Elizabeth Taylor
#7 Grace Kelly
If you enjoy Phillipe Halsman’s photography and would like to see more, Oliver continues to share images from the archive to this day on this Instagram account.
#8 Sammy Davis Jr.
#9 Marilyn Monroe
#10 Edward Albee
#11 Marlon Brando
#12 Marilyn Monroe
Keywords: Celebrities | Celebrity portraits | Unseen photos | Archive photos | Portraits