Defying Gravity

“In a jump, the subject, in a sudden burst of energy, overcomes gravity. He cannot simultaneously control his expressions, his facial and his limb muscles. The mask falls. The real self becomes visible. One has only to snap it with the camera,” Philippe Halsman wrote in his essay on the science of “Jumpology”. Between 1954 and 1960, the celebrated Magnum photographer made a habit of ending his portrait sessions by asking his sitters to jump. 50 of these unconventional images – whose world-famous protagonists ranged from Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn to Salvador Dalí and Robert Oppenheimer – served as the inspiration for the current group exhibition ‘The Jump’.

In addition to Halsman’s images, the showcase (which is on view at the Fotografie-Forum der Städteregion Aachen in Monschau until September 10, 2023) ffeatures around 100 works by some 30 renowned photography artists, including Eve Arnold, Marc Riboud, Thomas Hoepker, Hannes Kilian, Elliott Erwitt, Donata Wenders, Robert Lebeck, and Jean Gaumy. In many of the pictured scenes, boundless joy and athletic ambition are underpinned by a deeper meaning: some protagonists seem motivated by a childlike playfulness – others by a desire to impress.