The Irony of Candid Marilyn Monroe

I’ve developed a fascination with candid photos of Marilyn Monroe. Despite the vast media saturation of her image, it’s very much of her created image rather than the person.  (*although I do not intend to propose that the two are entirely separate.)  Despite being one of the biggest icons of this past century, it’s the proportion of her candid images to her created images is incredibly small.  It’s interesting seeing (or attempting to see) just how controlled her image was, especially with our current age of easily accessible privacy eliminating tools (ie cameraphones, blackberries, you tube, twitter..the freaking internet…..).  Yet Marilyn, one of the most photographed woman of the 20th century retained so much control….and still does.   She controlled how she talked, walked, and even the movement of her facial muscles.  When working with photographers, she would demand approval of every photo.  Scratch out photos of herself on the contact sheets and permanently damage them.  Her ‘candid’ responses were premeditated witicisms.  She could not deal with the public on a whim,  she famously required hours upon hours of preparation.

We in a way can relate to her image projection with how we represent ourselves digitally.  With facebook twitter, youtube, etc….we can control what images, sound bites, videos, and words of ours are projected out into the world.  It’s easy for personal use, but ridiculous for celebrity because after all …we have the same tools.

There are so many reasons I find candid photos of Marilyn so striking and powerful.  What I currently find the most interesting is the very degrees in candor in candid-like photos of Marilyn. Often the photos of Marilyn …not being ‘Marilyn Monroe’ (i.e. headscarf,sunglasses MM) are taken by someone familiar, like teenage follower and friend James Haspiel.  In order to find that Marilyn, you had to work at it and get to know her.  There’s other photos where she’s aware she’s got a bit of the public’s eye, but is choosing not to acknowledge it because she can’t handle it at the moment (i.e. leaving Payne Whitney) , Other photos she is ‘being Marilyn Monroe’ and we can see some of her guard let down.  There’s also those few few photos…where Marilyn is in fact….oblivious…….which for one of the biggest image control freaks of the 2oth century..evocative of privacy/celebrity/public relationships to come later in the century.   It’s easy to try to dismiss the Marilyn Monroe hype…especially because there is so much hype.  There are many reasons she’s an icon, and still is endlessly talked, written about, and her image slapped on just about anything.  The bottom line is, this woman who’s been dead nearly 50 years just keeps staying culturally relevant.

unaware but dressed to the nines.

Posing but private.

photo by James Haspiel

We are the voyeur.