Philippe Halsman: The French Crate (The Unseen Paris Archive)

Philippe Halsman was forced to flee Paris when the Nazis invaded, taking with him only his camera and twelve prints. Thanks to Albert Einstein's intervention, Halsman relocated to New York City in 1940. After the war ended, a crate of Halsman's glass plates was returned to him and subsequently forgotten until its recent rediscovery by his grandson, Oliver. Philippe Halsman: The French Crate reveals not merely a collection of lost works, but a record of an artist and city on the cusp of change.

In 1931, Halsman dropped out of engineering school and devoted himself to photography. Turning his lens to the world around him, he captured his friends and Paris’s artistic community. Inspired by Dostoyevsky’s psychological explorations, he chose to go against the grain and investigate "the mystery of another human being," rather than the soft-focus and romantic style popular at the time.

After moving to the United States, Halsman enjoyed significant artistic and commercial success. He took iconic portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Einstein, collaborated with Salvador Dalí for thirty-seven years, and photographed 101 LIFE Magazine covers, a remarkable and still unchallenged feat.

Philippe Halsman: The French Crate offers a rare glimpse into his early style, revealing an artist exploring the medium of photography and developing his own visual language. Perhaps most of all, this publication is a testament to the alchemical—almost magical—nature of analog photography. Emphasizing the tactile nature of a photographer’s tools and materials, The French Crate provides a pointed reminder of the artistry of the predigital age.