The Philippe Halsman Archive: Halsman Archive File 19 -Edward Albee 1961

The playwright Edward Albee was born in 1928 and adopted by a vaudeville magnate and socialite. He grew up outside of New York City and at age 18 moved to Greenwich village. He is considered one of the masters of American theatre. His first play was performed in 1959 in Berlin, and 2 years later Halsman was commissioned to photograph him for LIFE. Halsman saw Albee’s plays "The Death of Bessie Smith" and "The American Dream" and came up with an idea for the shoot -to show all of the actors and actresses in the imagination of the author. Halsman photographed the group of actors on one negative, and Albee on another negative. Halsman intentionally did not light Albee’s forehead, which left an empty space on the negative. When the two negatives were placed on top of one another in the darkroom, the actors appear in the blank spot on Albee's forehead. The "sandwiching" of negatives was the analogue darkroom hack to make two images appear to be one. The following year, Albee’s groundbreaking play "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf" premiered, and won a Pulitzer Prize, and his first Tony Award.