“Dalí Atomicus” by Philippe Halsman

You’re looking at my favourite staged photo of all time. I love the spirit, the silliness, the motion, the expression on Dali’s face, the poor cats who you know are severely annoyed…

From The Infomercantile:

The Atomicus photo, the most famous of the Halsman/Dali collaboration, took 28 takes — “after each exposure, while the assistants mopped the floor and reclaimed cats, Halsman developed the film to see the progress in the composition. Accidents would happen. The water, intended for the cats, would cover Dali’s face instead.”

I was delighted to discover that several outtakes from the shoot were published online this week, reproduced from the Fall 1950 issue of Photography Workshop:

Plus this one, which I’ve never seen before, from the same shoot:

From The Infomercantile:

A photograph by Philippe Halsman and Salvador Dali, described in the Fall 1950 issue of Photography Workshop thus:

“Still bent on suspending objects, Halsman and his willing accomplice, Dali, produced the explosion picture on page 39. The photograph was built around the fantasy of Dali’s shoe exploding with the image of a beautiful woman appearing amid a holocaust of popcorn and French bread.”

Visit infomercantile.com for more outtakes.