Khalip was born in 1908 into a theatrical family in St. Petersburg. From 1921 he lived in Moscow. After leaving school he attended the State Institute for Cinematography. During his studies he worked in the film showroom of the State Academy of the Arts, and also began to take photographs. Between 1925 and 1927 his inspiration was the work of such well-known photographers as Rodchenko, Shaikhet, Fridlyand and Alpert. He learnt a lot from them and during this time was already publishing his own pictures.

Khalip gained his diploma as a cameraman in 1929 and worked as a camera assistant and photographer in film studios until 1931. At the same time he took photographs for the newspapers Pravda and, the magazines Krasnaya Niva and USSR in Construction, and for the Soyuzfoto agency. After 1931 he devoted himself entirely to photography.

At the end of the twenties and during the thirties Khalip was one of the younger generation of Soviet photo reporters. He soon developed the characteristics of Soviet photojournalism of the period, turning in striking reports on social changes in the nation and expressing a committed interest through his photographs.

In 1938 Khalip took part in an expedition to the North Pole as photographer, to take pictures of “North Pole 1,” a research station led by Ivan Papanin, which was drifting on an ice-floe. He produced an impressive series of pictures, which were well received in the press, and was awarded a medal for his participation in the expedition. From 1938 to 1941 he worked for USSR in Construction.  He undertook many journeys throughout the Soviet Union, reporting on the life of the nation. His pictures of the Soviet fleet were particularly successful.

During WWII (from 1941-1944) Khalip was front-line correspondent for the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda. From 1944 to 1946 he worked for the Soviet Information office. His war photographs were a significant contribution to the heritage of Soviet press photography.

After the war Khalip worked for the magazines Ogonyok and Smena, and from 1954 for the magazine Sovetsky Soyuz, which was published in many countries. There were exhibitions of Khalip’s work in Moscow in 1967 and 1968, in Czechoslovakia in 1963, 1965, and 1967, in Helsinki in 1975, and in London in 1960.  He has been awarded high State decorations.