Marilyn Monroe Behind the Lens of the Lens

385923 01: Photographs Of Hollywood Icon Marilyn Monroe Will Be Offered At An Auction March 22, 2001 At Butterfields, A San Francisco Auction House Owned By Ebay Inc., During What Could Be A Million-Dollar Offering; Including Images, Negatives And The Model's Release Signed By Monroe From The Red Velvet Series Of Nudes Shot By Tom Kelley Studios In 1949.
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Up until the late 1940s, Norma Jeane was simply a model and aspiring actress. But once she became Marilyn Monroe, radically transforming herself into the face of Hollywood glamour — a blond bombshell with long, prominent brows, heavy-lidded eyelashes and trademark red lipstick — the rest was history. Photographers loved her almost more than the red-blooded American male. Twentieth Century Fox photographer Frank Powolny took this publicity still (below) of Monroe in 1953 prior to the release of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. (Powolny also had snapped the iconic photo of Betty Grable.) They became friends and he photographed her many times, including the last known still photos of Monroe before her death in 1962. Another photo from the 1953 session, a head shot of Marilyn by Powolny, which was signed by Monroe, sold at auction in 2016 for $24,959.

American actress, singer, model and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe.

Frank Povolny/Twentieth Century Fox/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images

 

head shot of Marilyn by Powolny

via rrauction.com

Headshot that sold at auction in 2016 for almost 25k!

 

Here’s a look at a couple more of these intimate photo shoots with some other well-known photographers.

British photographer Ted Baron, photo shoot from 1954 in Palm Springs, California

1954: Wearing striped capri pants, Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Mortenson or Norma Jean Baker, 1926 - 1962) is photographed by Baron in the garden of her home. In the background is a view of mountainous countryside.

Baron/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

 

American actress Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962).

Baron/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

 

Wearing striped capri pants, actress Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962) is photographed by Baron in the garden of her home in Palm Springs, 1954.

Baron/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

 

American actress Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Mortenson or Norma Jean Baker, 1926 - 1962).

Baron/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

 

PALM SPRINGS, CA - 1954: Actress Marilyn Monroe poses for a portrait laying on the grass in 1954 in Palm Springs, California.

Baron/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

 

circa 1954: American film actress Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Mortenson or Norma Jean Baker, 1926 - 1962).

Baron/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

1954: Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962) relaxes in Palm Springs.

Baron/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

We had a little fun with the new trend in AI; the left is our colorized version, created in under a minute.

 

Look Magazine photographer Earl Theisen

LOS ANGELES - FEBRUARY 1952: Marilyn Monroe poses for photographer Earl Theisen during a portrait session in February 1952 in Los Angeles, California.

Earl Theisen/Getty Images

Marilyn Monroe poses for photographer Earl Theisen during a portrait session in February 1952.

 

LOS ANGELES - 1951: Rising star Marilyn Monroe poses for a portrait on the backlot of 20th Century-Fox in 1951 in Los Angeles, California.

Earl Theisen/Getty Images

Here she poses for a portrait on the backlot of Twentieth Century Fox in 1951 in Los Angeles.

 

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