EDITOR’S NOTE: In Snap, we look at the power of a single photograph, chronicling stories about how both modern and historical images have been made.
The world’s most famous blonde bombshell, perched on playground equipment, absorbed in a book. The studio make-up and lighting is gone; as are her shoes. It’s 1955 and a summery glow radiates from her exposed limbs.
The photo is playful — she wears a multi-colored romper in a children’s setting. And simultaneously, serious. The book heavy in her arms is James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” a notoriously hard-going novel. She’s almost finished it.
The woman, of course, is a 29-year-old Marilyn Monroe, captured by American photojournalist Eve Arnold in Long Island, New York. Through Arnold’s lens, the Hollywood icon is quiet, contemplative and natural. Is Monroe aware of the camera? That’s up for debate.
Eve Arnold was one of the few women to photograph Monroe, seen here reading James Joyce's "Ulysses" (1955). Eve Arnold Estate/Courtesy National Portrait Gallery
