Philippe Halsman's Lost Paris Glass Plates Rediscovered

Photographer Philippe Halsman fled Paris in 1940 with only his camera and twelve prints. He left behind an entire body of work when escaping the Nazi invasion, a loss that haunted his early career.

His grandson, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, rediscovered a crate of those lost glass-plate negatives in 2006. The images, now published in the book Philippe Halsman: The French Crate by Thames & Hudson, reveal the formative work of the man who would later become famous for his jumping celebrity portraits.

Solving a Photographic Mystery

Halsman abandoned engineering studies in 1931 to pursue photography. He aimed to investigate what he called "the mystery of another human being," a pursuit influenced by the writer Dostoevsky. The rediscovered images are primarily portrait sittings from his Paris studio.

Even within conventional poses, his eye for asymmetry and unguarded expression was sharp. One portrait captures a sitter mid-grimace, with mismatched eyes and a mouth caught between a smile and a wince. This approach contrasted sharply with the flattering, symmetrical style typical of 1930s studio photography.

Early Technical Experimentation

Halsman was also experimenting with technique years before his fame. Several images feature double exposures, layering a sitter's face beneath sheer fabric or veiling. In these works, the eyes glow where the exposures overlap, showing a photographer already pushing creative boundaries.

These pre-war experiments laid the groundwork for his later iconic style. The images show a young artist testing ideas and exploring psychology through the lens.

A Career Defined by Flight and Rediscovery

The gap between these early works and Halsman's later career is stark. After physicist Albert Einstein helped him relocate to New York in 1940, Halsman's career soared. He photographed figures like Marilyn Monroe and Einstein, collaborated with Salvador Dalí, and shot a record 101 covers for Life magazine.

None of that future success is visible in the crate images. They represent a lost chapter, presumed destroyed by history. The book's publication offers a rare glimpse into a photographer's genesis, a story of loss and unexpected recovery. The volume is scheduled for release on October 01.

The book compiles the best of the rediscovered work. It focuses on the light and setting of his Paris studio, where a legend began before war forced him to leave it all behind.