The Last Sitting

A photographer who can capture the soft nature of a person’s image and personality, in one photo is one which I admire the most. I fell head over heels in love with Bert Stein the moment I saw the photo of Marilyn I showed in my previous post.

Bert Stein the famous commercial and fashion photographer of the 60s, was given the opportunity and was granted a sitting of the ultimate icon of style and feminine glamour Marilyn Monroe, only six weeks before her tragic death. The Hollywood actress’s finest and largest tributes are show cased within these timeless photos.

The three-day session yielded nearly 2,600 pictures—fashion, portrait, and nude studies—of indescribable sensual and human vibrancy, of which no more than 20 were published. And yet these few photographs ineradicably shaped our image of Marilyn Monroe.

These images make the humanity of Marilyn enduring the quality of the photography makes them remarkable, with them being the last sitting that Marilyn under took they produce a lasting image of the symbol that many including me a real star. In the soft lighting of the studio creating a dreamlike effect, the beauty and perfection speaks for itself.

The complete collection of photographs is displayed within the book “Marilyn Monroe: The Complete Last Sitting.” Showing many of the photographers that were never released and an insight of Bert Stein’s memories of the sitting where he saw a vulnerable, confused woman who although at the apex of her career, had relinquished control of her life.