A good portrait is incredibly hard to create, there is too much temptation to pander to the individual rather than portray them as they really were

- Philippe Halsman

I make the woman look at the camera as a symbol of all the eyes that will see the picture I am making.

- Philippe Halsman

Herein lies the main objective of portraiture and also its main difficulty. The photographer probes for the innermost. The lens sees only the surface…

- Philippe Halsman

A true portrait should, today and a hundred years from today, the Testimony of how this person looked and what kind of human being he was

- Philippe Halsman

In a jump, the subject, in a sudden burst of energy, overcomes gravity. He cannot simultaneously control his expressions, his facial and his limb mus…

- Philippe Halsman

No photographer should be blamed when, instead of capturing reality, he tries to show things he has seen only in his imagination. Photography is the …

- Philippe Halsman

The head of the photographer is more important than his camera

- Philippe Halsman

[Revealing character] can't be done by pushing the person into position or arranging his head at a certain angle. It must be accomplished by provokin…

- Philippe Halsman

This fascination with the human face has never left me... Every face I see seems to hide and sometimes, fleetingly, to reveal the mystery of another …

- Philippe Halsman