40 portraits of the most charismatic celebrities of the 20th century by Philip Halsman

If you make a collection of the best photographs of celebrities of the 20th century - influential politicians, beloved actors and actresses, writers, artists, etc., it turns out that they were all taken by several "star" photographers. Philippe Halsman, for example, was such a photographer. He was considered one of the best portraitists in the world!

Philip Halsman studied at the school of electrical engineering (this was the profession of the future in the 1920s), and although he was the best in his class, he did not finish his studies and decided to become a photographer. In Paris in the 1930s, this was perceived as a bad career choice. Halsman began experimenting with light and photographed homeless people, young actors, models and hairdressers.

He invented his own camera, eventually began photographing his favorite authors and became known as one of the best portrait painters of Paris at that time. When the Nazis invaded France, Philippe Halsman was on the run for many months. Thanks to the miraculous intervention of Albert Einstein, he was given an emergency visa for artists and writers. He came to America with nothing and had to start his career anew.

He started working at the Black Star photo agency, and in the end he got lucky. One of his photos was chosen for the Elizabeth Arden lipstick campaign, and this eventually opened many doors for the photographer. In 1942, his picture was already on the cover of LIFE. And then other magazines started contacting him.

The legacy of Philip Halsman — thousands of photos. Now they are stored in the archive, which is managed by his grandson, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg.

And here are his works: