culture schlock

mm swathed in furs - and sometimes nothing else...

interesting hairdo.

an elegent mm.

mm in a black wig. it is reported she wore one as a disguise in public when she wanted to hide. never seen any candids of this though so either it really worked or isn't true.

mazza plays photog - i wonder if she tooks any actual pictures?

uh... maz and a net!

possibly the most famous of the stern shoots, chiffon scarves barely cover her boobs.

like it says; the prop here was beads. the strong lighting shows up the wrinkles and hair on her face, the mood is extreme. or so i read it.

the last STUDIO shots of her, bert stern took loads of pix of her, using props and costumes. she reportedly got drunker and drunker during the shoots and you can see it. she hated most of them, striking them through with marker and some she scratched with a pin. stern controversially used a lot of these after her death complete with damage, raising the issue of the moral obligation of the artist to subject.

who took the last pictures of mm? was it george barris or bert stern? anyway, they were both in the last few days. here are a few of barris. his beach shots appear in vol 1

erik skipsey took some late pictures of mm, here with her dog 'Maf', a gift from sinatra and named that as an abbreviation for 'mafia'. he wasn't happy so the pup became 'Mof' instead.

the hat pix are by perutz, showing a stunning, playful lady.

the last lot are what accompanied her last interview, for life magazine. the tapes of this have been used in documentaries and are the only real evidence of 'her own words'.

andre de dienes took loads of early pix off mm. there's a lot of them in the 'kinky' and 'sweater girl' galleries. here are a few of his snaps of her as a blonde. anthony beauchamp took pix of marilyn celebrating her curves. the last lot in the towelling bikini are his

before the blonde she was famous for marilyn wasn't only brunette but her hair was so curly, frizzy and kinky it was almost afro. discovered as a brunette, some of her earliest shots show this. amongst the photographers are david conover who 'found' her, miller and de dienes.

candid moments with the husbands

pin up in swim wear

more various stuff

her last complete film (and gable's), the shoot had an unpresedented documentation in a relay of magnum photographers who visited the nevada set in teams.

more various and varied shots that don't quite fit anywhere else right now.