Becoming Marilyn, a photographic tribute, is on display in the Staley-Wise Gallery at 100 Crosby Street, New York, until August 21.
“So much has already been said about Marilyn Monroe. After a deprived and unhappy early life as Norma Jeane Mortenson, Marilyn began her slow rise in Hollywood thanks to her agent and lover Johnny Hyde. At the time of her death at age 36, Marilyn had reached the height of celebrity and stardom – a position that has miraculously continued beyond her death.
The role of the photographer has been crucial to the rise of Marilyn Monroe. As her friend and photographer Sam Shaw once said, ‘The camera loved Marilyn and Marilyn loved the camera.’ The importance of photography to the maintenance of her legend has been demonstrated by multiple museums and gallery exhibitions celebrating her 100th birthday this year.
From her years as an unknown starlet all the way through the heights of her fame, Marilyn remained a magnet to photographers who have been drawn to photograph her as no other person has been photographed. She came alive for the camera and seemingly never tired of posing, demonstrating a sexuality that was obvious yet acceptable.
This exhibition follows the teenage Norma Jeane on the beach as photographed by her friend André de Dienes through her iconic VOGUE sitting photographed by Bert Stern only a few weeks before her death. In between, the exhibition includes images by Milton Greene, Philippe Halsman, Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Sam Shaw, Elliott Erwitt, and Lawrence Schiller, among others – some instantly recognisable and some rarely-seen.”
The story begins in 1945, with Andre de Dienes’ beach photos of Norma Jeane Dougherty.
Within a few years, the transformation into Marilyn Monroe had begun.
Her final sessions with Dienes hint at a growing schism between her public image and private self.
On the cusp of stardom, Slim Aarons photographed a glamorous Monroe reading fan mail; while Jock Carroll followed her on a break from shooting Niagara in 1952.
Ben Ross shot a formal sitting with Marilyn, and watched her courting the press in 1953.
Sam Shaw, a close friend, photographed Marilyn at Sardi’s Restaurant in New York in 1954, dining with columnist Leonard Lyons, actor David Wayne, and photographer Milton Greene.
Another Shaw photo from the same trip shows Marilyn and husband Joe DiMaggio backstage on Broadway with David Wayne; while Elliott Erwitt captured the shooting of Marilyn’s iconic ‘subway grate scene’ for The Seven Year Itch.
Marilyn with the crew of Ed Murrow’s Person to Person (her only TV interview) in 1955; and photographed on the New York subway by Ed Feingersh.
Milton Greene, who became Marilyn’s business partner, worked with her extensively after her move to New York, with the ‘ballerina sitting’ and the ‘black sitting’ among their most memorable sessions.
Marilyn was photographed by the English society portraitist, Cecil Beaton, in 1956; and his assistant Ed Pfizenmaier documented the shoot.
After her marriage to Arthur Miller, Sam Shaw photographed Marilyn enjoying a more peaceful life in the city and countryside.
Richard Avedon, America’s leading fashion photographer, first met Marilyn in 1954, with Sam Shaw capturing the moment. Avedon went on to photograph her several times, including this melancholy portrait from 1957.
Marilyn ‘jumped’ for Philippe Halsman in 1959; while Eve Arnold’s 1960 studio portrait was made to promote what would be Marilyn’s last movie, The Misfits.
A series of images captured during Marilyn’s final months: reading a screenplay during a magazine shoot with George Barris; giving an interview in her Los Angeles home, with photographer Allan Grant; and celebrating her 36th birthday with Lawrence Schiller on the set of Something’s Got to Give, before being fired by Twentieth Century-Fox.
Published after her death, Bert Stern’s ‘last sitting’ became a memorial to Marilyn.
A publicity shot by Gene Kornman inspired Andy Warhol’s Marilyn portrait; while others have also drawn upon Monroe iconography – including pop star Madonna (photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, 1990); and drag performer Amanda Lepore (by David LaChapelle, 2007.)
And finally, Steve McCurry photographed ‘two icons’ in Los Angeles, 2007; and Amy Gaskin’s images of lookalikes – from ‘the black Marilyn’ in LA, to ‘500 Marilyns’ in Australia – are collected in a new book, Marilyn Forever!
The Marilyn Report 