The unseen photos feature Marilyn in nothing but a sheet
Beautiful, rare images of Marilyn Monroe have gone on display in London, in an exhibition entitled Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, after one of the screen icon's most famous films.
The photographic exhibition, which includes images of the actress wearing only a sheet, features images by Milton H. Greene and Douglas Kirkland, who we recently spoke to all about his experience photographing Marilyn Monroe.
Along with the images of Marilyn wrapped in a bedsheet are striking black and white pictures taken during the 1950s, and close-up shots of Marilyn with a Pekinese dog.
Both Kirkland and Greene were young men when they started working with the sex symbol, and the collaborations they would have with the starlet would go on to impact their whole careers.
Greene’s son Joshua told Stella that his father and his photographic subject really ‘hit it off right from the start’, becoming firm friends, with the photographer even offering Marilyn a place to stay after she split from Joe DiMaggio
‘He was really taken with her authenticity,’ Joshua adds. ‘He introduced her to a whole new lifestyle.
‘They hung out with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra; they went to the jazz clubs to see Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald. She was captivated.’
Greene’s son, who remembers spending time with her when he was a child, also adds that his father wanted Marilyn to be taken more seriously as an artist.
‘Milton wanted Marilyn to step away from the dumb blonde thing, so he took a series of pictures of her in different characters, to show how versatile she could be,’ he told the magazine. ‘They spent a lot of time trying different images and personalities.’ Kirkland, now 81, spoke to Marie Claire late last year about his memories of shooting one of the most famous women of all time.
‘Her movements appeared to be in slow motion – light and unimaginable.’ He pauses. ‘She was truly Marilyn.’
Read our full interview with Douglas Kirkland here, and scroll through the gallery above to see some of the images that will be on display. GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES starring MARILYN MONROE by MILTON H GREENE & DOUGLAS KIRKLAND is at The Little Black Gallery, 13A Park Walk, Chelsea, London SW10 0AJ from today until 27 February 2016.