Philippe Halsman (1906-1979) Salvador Dali [Exploding Face / With Milk], 1953

Silver gelatin print, printed later, image/sheet size 35 x 27.7cm, with Halsman's copyright stamp verso. "Philippe's long collaboration with Dali produced many memorable photographs. This time, in 1953, it was Philippe's own idea: to make Dali's face explode. A very awkward problem indeed, but Philippe found a solution and asked me to record the elaborate session. His plan was to project one of his portraits of Dali onto a pan of milk. (Philippe used to say that milk had just the right viscosity for this particular shot.) He brought the enlarger down to the studio, mounted the electronic flash inside the head of the enlarger instead of the regular bulb, and placed the negative of a Dali portrait in the enlarger's film holder. He then synchronized his 4 x 5" view camera to the enlarger with the electronic flash and focused Dali's image onto the milk. Philippe counted to three. At three, the assistant threw pebbles into the pan and Phillippe released the shutter. It was really catch as catch can, and Philippe made several shots like this. The end results were quite amazing. Some figures, curiously, resembled a Dali painting. (Note: Dali was quite upset at the idea of himself exploding and did not want to see these pictures for several years. Later on he did accept them.)" -- Yvonne Halsman, "Halsman at Work", pp. 68-69 Qty: (1)