|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
Story by Jack Foley |
BEST known for her photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Eve Arnold has also been
credited for re-defining the glamour of Hollywood, as well as offering a personal
insight into the lives of some of the world’s leading political figures
of days gone by, such as Malcolm X and Richard Nixon.
But it is her work with the stars that is the focus of attention at a new
exhibition at the Zelda Cheatle Gallery in London (W1), running until
November 15, which should prove a massive draw for fans of the silver screen.
As Isabella Rossellini once remarked while talking about her time spent on
the site of White Nights: "She [Eve] tiptoed around us on the set barefoot,
snapping photos. She was a transparent presence. If we noticed her lens pointing
at us, she stopped. I never felt she was stealing our images, or that she
was exposing us to what we did not want to show. Eve was sort of a guardian
angel, invisible and attentive. I liked her around us."
This kind of tribute is typical of the respect with which Eve Arnold is held.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1913, the daughter of Russian immigrants,
Arnold's first photographs were taken on a $40 Rolleicord given to her by
a boyfriend.
However, apart from a six-week course at New York's New School for Social
Research under the late Alexei Brodovitch, art director of Harper's Bazaar,
she is self-taught, having been brought to his attention when he saw hand-held
photographs she had taken on an assignment among the fashion shows in Harlem.
Describing them as fresh, original and a new approach to fashion, Brodovitch
told Arnold: "You do not do class assignments. Go back to Harlem and
do comprehensive study."
Arnold did as she was told, spending a year in the bars and restaurants, and
continuing to experiment with her style. When the story was completed, her
pictures were sent to Tom Hopkinson, the editor of Picture Post in Britain,
who subsequently published eight pages and a cover.
Arnold was then taken on by the Magnum photo-agency in 1951, the first female
to do so, and became a full-time member in 1955, quickly becoming a highly-respected
member of the team, despite being one of the few female photographers.
Despite working in such a male-driven environment, however, she never felt
restricted by gender, describing it as ‘a big plus to be a woman working
in those days’, as 'men liked to be photographed by women, women liked
to be photographed by women’.
It was during her time at Magnum that Arnold began to shape her career path.
She had wanted to cover the Vietnam War but was told by her art director that
she could not run fast enough, and instead opted to focus on people and personalities,
constantly challenging the conventions of portraiture with an intriguing insight
into the human condition.
Her most famous subject, however, and the one for whom she is renowned is
screen icon Marilyn Monroe, whom she first met as a starlet.
Arnold is quoted as saying: "We were both starting out and neither of
us knew what we were doing. Marilyn was very important in my career and I
think I was helpful in hers."
Arnold’s skill in capturing a different side to Monroe is what makes
her work so special. As Sara Stevenson, curator of Photography at the National
Photography Collection, Scottish National Portrait Collection, commented in
Magna Brava; Magnum's Women Photographers: "Most of the photographs of
Monroe taken by men have a gloss of sexuality. She and Eve were both aware
of her ability to turn this persona on, as an almost mechanistic trick. It
is Eve's personal charm that gives us the relaxed individual and the subtler
person of Marilyn Monroe."
Arnold is equally proud to have captured a side to Monroe that few people
ever got to know, saying: "She was very clever, although uneducated,
but she was street-smart and very witty."
Arnold later photographed the actress towards the end of her career and was
present for two months on the set of The Misfits in 1960 - prints which are
an integral part of the exhibition.
But she was equally at home on other film sets, capturing the likes of Joan
Crawford and Marlene Dietrich on several occasions. Her work is essential
viewing for anyone who is passionate about film.
Other highlights include a shot of Paul Newman taking a class at the Actors
Studio in New York in 1955, and Marlon Brando standing on the set of A Countess
From Hong Kong in 1966.
RELATED STORIES: Discover the work of Sid Avery. Click here....
Monroe exhibition, chronicling the life of a superstar. Click here...
Elvis and Marilyn exhibition preview. Click here...