Ernst Haas: On Set

Ernst Haas: On Set

This book considers the film stills of Ernst Haas (1921-86), one of the most accomplished photographers of the 20th century, transgressing the borders between still photography and the moving image. Haas worked with a variety of eminent directors--from Vittorio de Sica to John Huston, Gene Kelly and Michael Cimino--and depicted cinema genres from suspense (<i>The Third Man, The Train</i>) to the Western (<i>The Oregon Trail, Little Big Man</i>), and from comedy (<i>Miracle in Milan, Love and Death</i>) to musicals (<i>West Side Story, Hello Dolly</i>). Haas inscribed a temporal, filmic dimension into his stills which, when viewed in a sequence, generate movement and narrative. So accomplished was his mastery of color, light and motion that Haas was frequently asked to photograph large group actions--from the battle scenes of <i>The Charge of the Light Brigade</i> and the dances of <i>West Side Story</i> to the ski slopes of <i>Downhill Racer</i>. <i>On Set</i> elucidates a novel perspective on the sets and the stars Haas photographed, and reveals a little-known but crucial dimension of his oeuvre.