Chelsea Exhibit Shows Off Many Faces Of Marilyn
Updated: Updated 06/18/2012 10:46 AM
By: Stephanie Simon
It's been 50 years since the the death of Marilyn Monroe, and now a photographer is sharing some stunning pictures of the movie star along with some special memories. NY1's Stephanie Simon filed the following report.
Fifty years after Marilyn Monroe's death, photographer Lawrence Schiller looks back at the images he shot of the blonde bombshell - some just before her death.
"I was on assignment for Paris Match, the French magazine and later for Life Magazine, but at that time I'm not looking for anything special. What I'm trying to do is find a moment as good as the great photographers of all time that photographed her," recalls Schiller.
Schiller was just 25 when he shot many of these images during the filming of "Something's Gotta Give." Marilyn was 35. Schiller says Marilyn was fighting demons emotionally and professionally. She was on her third marriage, she'd suffered a miscarriage and was battling with 20th Century Fox.
"And she has to resort to her ultimate weapon to prove to the studio that she's as valuable as Liz Taylor is and that is to use her body, because they won't accept her as a great actress," says Schiller.
The images and proof sheets are on view at the Steven Kasher Gallery in Chelsea through June 30. Despite her iconic look, Schiller says the photos show what a chameleon Monroe really was.
"She could be this child just by the edge of the pool sticking her leg out, a picture that shows nothing but says everything," notes Schiller.
In the end Schiller says the magic was all Marilyn.
Monroe died In August of 1962, a few months after one of Schiller's photoshoots. He says her playful innocence, traumatic life and tragic death made her an icon. And while men adored her, Schiller believes it's Marilyn Monroe's female fans who have made her immortal.
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