Douglas Kirkland: Marilyn - (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A charming leporello album unfolds one of the most iconic and seductive series of portraits of Marilyn Monroe, taken over a single evening in 1961

Marilyn Monroe remains to this day one of the most photographed women of the 20th century and among the most alluring, charismatic and idolized American movie stars of all time. In 1961, Canadian photographer Douglas Kirkland (1934-2022) was invited to spend an evening photographing a 35-year-old Monroe at a studio, in the intimate confines of an unmade bed. The result was one of the most iconic and sensual sequences of photos ever taken of Monroe, featuring her mostly undressed and wrapped seductively in silk sheets.
This volume, conceived by Douglas Kirkland's wife Françoise Kirkland, reproduces the series in a leporello format. The portfolio of images, accompanied by Douglas' handwritten notes, unfolds without interruption, transforming the act of reading into an immersive and almost choreographic visual experience. The book draws the reader into the story of a brief encounter between a young photographer and the most iconic and desired woman in Hollywood history.