Philippe Halsman’s Iconic Jump Portraits

Legendary Latvian-born American portrait photographer Philippe Halsman is one of the most innovative photographers of the 20th century. Over his lifetime, he shot 101 LIFE magazine covers, including the most famous photograph of Albert Einstein of all time.

But during the 1950s, he started a side project separate from the serious world of magazine cover photography: He began capturing some of the era’s most iconic artists, writers, actors, politicians and other public figures in a setup that defied the expectations of both their stature and the portraiture genre: Jumping. From Salvador Dali to Marilyn Monroe to Richard Nixon, his unmistakable, surprising and delightfully dynamic portraits survive in the form of a rare book plainly titled Philippe Halsman’s Jump Book.

When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears” ~ Philippe Halsman

Though the book is sadly out of print, you can score a used copy on Amazon or, if you’re lucky enough, your local library may carry it.

For a closer look at the iconic photographer’s creative process and quirk, we also highly recommend a companion read: Unknown Halsman, a fascinating exploration of Halsman’s lesser-known but remarkable work, including private and experimental photographs, decontextualized advertisements, and outtakes from famous photo shoots, many never before seen.

via But Does It Float HT @praxis22

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Isarithmic History: 88 Years of Red-Blue Divide in 1 Minute

Data visualization is at its most powerful when it helps illuminate cultural patterns and trends not easily visible, or at least digestible, to the naked cognitive eye. That’s exactly what Duke PhD candidate David Sparks does in this excellent visualization of the isarithmic history of the two-party vote, which captures 88 years of red-and-blue divide, 1920-2008, in just one minute.

More about the process and the data is available on Sparks’ blog.

via GMSV

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Mad Men: The Illustrated World

Tips for the modern metrosexual from the 1960s, or what martinis have to do with Twitter.

Yes, we love Mad Men goodies, who doesn’t? Nearly two years ago, we featured NYC-based illustrator, designer and comedian Dyna Moe‘s absolutely wonderful Mad Men illustrations. The series eventually charmed AMC into launching the popular Mad Men Yourself app, which has since populated countless Twitter streams with Mad-Menified avatars.

This fall, Dyna Moe released her dynamite work in Mad Men: The Illustrated World — a truly, truly fantastic book that captures not only everything we love about Mad Men, but also the broader cultural landscape of the era, from fashion and style to office culture to lifehacks like hangover workarounds and secretary etiquette.

With stunning, vibrant illustrations inspired by the aesthetic and artistic style of vintage ads from the 1960s, the book is a priceless and colorful timecapsule of an era few of us lived in but most of us romanticize.

And, of course, effort to capture the spirit of the era would be complete without the spirits of the era.

Conceptually playful and artistically ambitious, Mad Men: The Illustrated World is the perfect gift for the vintage revivalist, illustration aficionado or Mad-Men-holic in your life, and a fine addition to your own collection of paper-based design gems.

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