Philippe Halsman: The Frenchman

In New York in 1948, photographer Philippe Halsman had a chance meeting with Fernandel, a French movie star from the vaudeville tradition, and asked the actor to participate in a completely original photographic experiment. Halsman would ask Fernandel questions about America to which he would respond using only facial expressions.

This book brings together the facial responses that Fernandel conjured up to such questions as “Does the average Frenchman still pinch pretty girls in a crowd?” (silly grin) and “What was your reaction to the great American game of baseball?” (perplexed). The result is a laugh-out-loud, wonderfully original book and a testimony to all that can be communicated by a turn of the lip or twinkle in the eyes.