The other day my mom reminded me of a book I’d completely forgotten that I own: Philippe Halsman’s Jump Book. Apparently it’s now gone out of print and my $14.95 paperback is now worth a bit more than that. But I’m not parting with it for anything, no sir.
Philippe Halsman (1906–1979) was a famous portrait photographer. He photographed all kinds of celebrities, and his photos graced the covers of over a hundred different issues of Life magazine. Some of his photos (André Gide, Albert Einstein, Adlai Stevenson, John Steinbeck) even appeared on postage stamps.
Somewhere along the way Halsman had the magnificent inspiration to ask his subjects to jump. Amazingly, almost all of them agreed, and he ended up with hundreds of photos of famous people in midair. The Jump Book is the result: a collection of 191 of these incredible photos. I wish I could scan them all. I suppose if I just showed you a few of my favorites it would count as a fair use, right?
Believe it or not, this is Judge Learned Hand, a VERY BIG NAME in American jurisprudence, at age 80.
The Duke & Duchess of Windsor (he’s the former King of England who abdicated the throne in order to marry the American divorcée; she’s the American divorcée). It took me a moment to figure out why I had such a visceral response to this photo — and then I realized. Is he or is he not the spitting image of my grandfather?
Peter Ustinov, apparently an Xtreme Bookworm, since he couldn’t even put his book down for this!
Halsman with Mary Martin. Halsman was quite athletic, apparently, but you’d never guess it from his expression in this picture. Maybe he’s afraid she’ll fly off to Neverland, and drag him with her?
Jumpology
The photos alone would make this an amazing book, but even better than the actual photos is Halsman’s commentary. Half serious, half tongue-in-cheek, he analyzes the jumps and draws hilariously wise and witty conclusions from them. You see,
when we look at somebody’s face, we don’t know what he thinks or feels. We don’t even know what he is like. Everybody wears an armor. Everybody hides behind a mask…. [But] in a jump the subject, in a sudden burst of energy, overcomes gravity. He cannot simultaneously control his expressions, his facial and his limb muscles. The mask falls. The real self becomes visible. One has only to snap it with the camera.
Halsman goes on to joke about how much quicker and cheaper “jumpology” is than psychoanalysis, but when you look at the pictures you realize he might be on to something. He notices the difference between men’s and women’s jumps; who takes their shoes off first; who bends at the knee; who reaches up with their arms; whether jumping styles run in families. He notices that successful partners such as Simon & Schuster (yep, there was a real Mr. Simon and Mr. Schuster, and they both jumped) have diametrically opposed jumps, whereas the members of partnerships that didn’t last so long (Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis) had almost identical jumps.
What’s next?
I feel a meme coming on! Let’s all photograph ourselves in mid-air! My family will be at a Fourth of July barbecue later this afternoon, and I intend to bring my camera and see who’s willing to jump. I dare you all to do the same. If you’re reading this? You’re tagged! (Fred, this includes you!) When you post your jump pictures on your blog (preferably converted to black & white, emulating Halsman), please leave a comment with a link!
6 Comments
Oh wow! That is great. And a great meme too. I can probably get a pic of D jumping (in fact I have some already) but not the beloved – you can’t make someone who weighs more than 300lb to jump for love or money. I liked the pic of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. I’d always wondered what happened to them, after I saw a docu-drama called “Edward and Mrs Simpson”.
Love, love, love! Um. LOVE. Must make this happen, somehow.
I remember this book! Don’t own it but I’ve read it in my dim past. I’m a Duke & Duchess of Windsor nut and have several books about them – odd couple. But interesting. I like your new format!
Crit, you never know till you try. I didn’t think my dad would do it, either. He’s 75 years old, not exactly slim, and has bad knee problems. But he could hardly wait.
Kristy, go for it! And make sure you post the results!
Guusje, thanks! I am fascinated by them, too. In fact, as you may recall, there are several photos of them in the book. Halsman had photographed them separately as well as together, and in each of those pictures (he points out in the text) you can see the other’s reaction. The Duke, watching the Duchess jump, is visibly concerned. The Duchess, observing the Duke, has a wicked mischievous grin. :-)
Dang it, I wish I had read this when my sister and her family were still here visiting from NM (they went back home yesterday). But will definitely do this with my family and let you know when I have the results!
Well, since you put it that way, I just may have to give it a shot. With my luck, I’ll break a leg or something.