I love “old school Hollywood”… with glamour and some innocence… Since I was a teenager I watch old movies. I so admire the feminine silhouettes, full circle skirts, midi length dresses and some beautiful hairstyles… so when I saw the book below I was so enchanted – it is about a timeless fashion icon, but it also has interviews. I like this kind of combination!
The book is Norman Mailer/Bert Stern: Marilyn Monroe
Mailer says that the book “”is really two books. It is a biography, and it is also a pictorial retrospective of an actress whose greatest love affair was conceivably with the camera”. Norman Mailer (1923–2007) was one of the 20th century’s greatest and most influential writers, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. This book was conceived by Lawrence Schiller, Mailer’s collaborator on many works. It shows a work about three legends: the author’s powerful words with Stern’s exquisite images of Marilyn Monroe. The photos were taken for Vogue over three days at the Bel-Air Hotel.
In fact, so many decades after the icon’s death, the myth definitely goes on. The book is a biography, as already stated, but what the book is really about, for Marilyn admirers, is the full sized picture-pages, by photographer Bert Stern. The photos are both in black and white and color reproduced. There are many never seen shots in a matte finish. Bert Stern (1929–2013) was one of the greatest American portrait photographers, who in the 1960s produced 200 pages annually for Vogue magazine, as well as many of the most important advertising campaigns at the time. The portrait series of Marilyn Monroe were taken just six weeks before she died. Marilyn Monroe was and still is constantly seen as the “dumb girl with good looks”, but in fact she was very intelligent, always reading iconic important books and even writing good poems.
A definite book for the ones who like the myth, the character, the actress and fashion icon Marilyn Monroe!
Photos courtesy of Taschen and Glamour
Denise S. is the blogger behind DenisesPlanet, a blog about her adventures, studies, readings and fashion, as well. She loves shoes, travelling, roses, learning languages and sweets, among other things. Learning from people and respecting each other’s opinions are always very important for her!