The passing of Elizabeth Taylor prompted me to check out new books on her and her contemporaries. This one about Marilyn Monroe, from a new publisher called Calla Editions, is different than the typical fan books of photos. It has an interesting back story (as I read from a well-executed introduction by Brian Wallis of the International Center of Photography in New York): Marilyn was shooting a movie in Canada (River of No Return) and was injured on location with a sprained ankle. While she was recovering, a LOOK magazine photographer got rare access to her over a number of days. His pictures give a rare look at Marilyn in a more relaxed and natural state than most of what we've seen before. Sure, she was always posing when a lens was pointed at her. But here she's playful and smiling without her trademark sexual guile. What a treat for Marilyn lovers! The photographer himself, John Vachon, is an interesting case, in that he remains known primarily as an FSA photographer; Marilyn might have been his only celebrity glamor shoot.

Assignment: Marilyn Monroe by Brian Wallis

Marilyn and Joe 

Glamour Shots 

Candid Shots 

Talking on the Phone  

Stan's Swell Idea 

Establishing Shots  

O Canada  

She Understood Photography  

Letters Home  

Afterword: Marilyn Monroe and River of No Return by John Grafton