(Published by
Taschen, £ 44.99) Hardcover, 10.6 x
12.8 in., 276 pages, ISBN
9783836530088
By Adrian Smith
Taken a mere six
weeks before her untimely death, the Bert Stein photos of Marilyn Monroe have
become legendary. With an estimated 2,500 shots taken over two weekends in a
converted Bel Air hotel room, Stein attempted successfully to capture the true
Marilyn, past the glamour and the Hollywood glitz. These photos were originally
printed in Vogue and have remained in popular circulation ever since. In
1973 Pullitzer-winning author and journalist Norman Mailer was invited to write
a introductory piece on Marilyn Monroe to accompany a book of photos, including
some of those taken by Stein. Mailer had never met Monroe, and took everyone by
surprise when he returned with over 100,000 words, having watched all of her
movies, conducted interviews and more essentially, fallen in love. In death, as
in life, Marilyn Monroe has a spellbinding effect on everyone.
Bert Stein's
photos are perhaps well known for Marilyn being naked, covering herself with
chiffon scarves. As he explains in his introduction: “Vogue wanted to
dress Marilyn up... I still thought the right thing to do was to take her
clothes off. The more they added, the more I tried to think of ways to reveal
her. All she had to do was show one toe and it got me excited...â€
This new book
from Taschen, previously only available as a collector's edition, has been
published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of her death. Hundreds of
the photos from Stein's shoot are reproduced alongside Mailer's text, which is
ostensibly a biography but also serves as a commentary on her life. Mailer
attempts to get under the surface of Monroe, just like Stein was with his
photos. He covers her life from her difficult childhood, her marriages, her
depression and finally her death and the various theories around what really
happened. Mailer adroitly summarises her power when he states: “She emanated
sex, a simple street girl on still another back street, emanated sex like few
girls ever did... libido seemed to ooze through her, and out of her like a dew
through the cracks in a vase.â€
It is hard to
believe that it has been fifty years since Marilyn Monroe died, and in many
ways she is just as misunderstood now, an enigma, a puzzle that people still
want to solve. She was contradictory; emanating fragility and being difficult
to work with on set, yet representing a new kind of sexual confidence and
freedom that would in part pave the way towards the sexual revolution of the
1960s. This book offers a glimpse into the psyche of Marilyn. One can spend
hours simply pouring over the beautifully reproduced photos in this huge book,
or read Mailer's accompanying text and discover new insight through his unique
approach in constructing a biography. It is a book that can be dipped into
again and again for years to come.
Click here to order from Taschen