Philippe Halsman (1906–1979) was one of the most influential portrait photographers of the 20th century. He became famous for photographing celebrities, artists, scientists, politicians, and cultural figures in creative and unconventional ways. His photographs were not simply portraits of what people looked like; they attempted to reveal something about their personality, imagination, emotions, and public identity.
Philippe Halsman was born on May 2, 1906, in Riga, which was then part of the Russian Empire and is now the capital of Latvia. His father, Morduch Halsman, was a dentist, and his mother, Ita Grintzevicius, was a teacher and writer. Halsman developed an interest in photography during his youth.
