Dalí Atomicus
Sometimes life feels like a picture
What a week! Just a short post today, but I wanted to check in since I’ve been mainly offline and out of touch for a while. How’s everybody doing out there?
Sometimes it feels like this country is losing its mind. Or maybe it’s already lost it? When I feel overwhelmed, I’m reminded of this famous image of Salvador Dalí by Philippe Halsman — Everything flying every which way, things are out of control, gravity is upended, and chaos rules. If you’re even remotely keeping up with the news, America feels that way right now, like the wheels are coming off. It does to me, anyway. Maybe you can relate.
I suspect some of you know this image. It is one of my all-time favorite photographs. Dalí Atomicus is all the more remarkable when you learn how they made it, given the rise of AI-generated imagery and the ease of constructing fantastic pictures these days. Here’s how MoMA describes it:
It took photographer Philippe Halsman and artist Salvador Dalí 28 tries to achieve the playful weightlessness of Dalí Atomicus. Halsman met Dalí and other artists in the Surrealist circle while he was living in Paris in the 1930s. In the late 1940s, the two men began to collaborate on a variety of photographic projects. Dalí Atomicus, perhaps the most iconic image to emerge from this collaboration, is a portrait of the artist inspired by his painting, Leda Atomica (1949), which appears in the composition’s right-hand corner—hanging suspended above the ground like the easel, chair, stepstool, cats, water, and Dalí himself.
A friend shared this BBC video with me, and I was again marveling at Halsman’s genius this morning. Hopefully, it can bring some levity to your world as it did mine today. As always, I’m reminded that art can help.
I’ll leave you with this: I’m experimenting with Instagram’s repost feature, which means I’m sharing photography that catches my eye on the FlakPhoto IG. If you show work there, I would love to hear from you. My DMs are always open.
That’s all for now. Have a great weekend, friends. Hang in there, and take care!
Such an iconic image and such an incredible time for photography too. That BBC clip is absolute gold, thanks for sharing something to make us smile while the world outside seems on the verge of collapse.
I love this image and the BBC video is amazing!!! thanks for sharing