As a young girl, I always had an artistic bent. When I grew up, I thought I would be doing something in the arts, well except for that brief stint after I saw the movie “Convoy” and wanted to be a trucker but that’s another story. I took private art classes from a French woman who lived up the street from us, poured through books about how to draw, and spent countless hours practicing my craft. I was never very good at it but I thought I might have a shot in advertising. On to my teenage years and another interest developed. I became fascinated with Marilyn Monroe and at the same time, my interest in photography was born. I didn’t realize it at the time but the photos were what drew me in more than the persona. I began collecting books about Marilyn Monroe and would spend hours gazing at the photos that had been captured of her and had so artfully depicted her many moods. Why on earth am I writing about this today, you might wonder. Well, I read an article here at CNN.com about some photos of Marilyn Monroe that had been discovered in some Life Magazine vault or basement. They have never seen the light of day until now and, the few that I saw were really remarkable. But not for the reason one might think.
While looking at these photographs, I realized that the advent of digital photography and Photoshop has taken photography to a place that, sometimes I’m not so sure how I feel about it. We photographers spend so much time trying to get the perfect photo, without blow-outs, hot-spots, shadows, underexposures and the like that it’s possible to miss a beautifully perfect, imperfect photo. I cannot put examples from the article here to further illustrate what I’m saying but, once you follow that link and view the slideshow you will know exactly what I’m talking about. The pictures of Marilyn Monroe have at least one of these “faults”. For a portrait photographer, families don’t usually want perfectly imperfect, and for the most part I get that. They want images of their family and loved ones that they can see. For myself though, it has really made me want to get back in touch with my more artistic side and capture the moment as the Life Photographer did in these unpublished photos of Marilyn Monroe. I think this feeling is also why I tend to be a pretty straight editor of my photos. Don’t get me wrong, I love photos where people have so artfully manipulated them in Photoshop that it’s impossible to discern what is real and what is not. I just don’t see things that way. I wish I could but even when I try, it just doesn’t work for me.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go dig up some of those old books and look through them for some photographic inspiration. Please go look at the slideshow! Hope all is well in your world!
Good point Evie, I think we all forget that it’s okay, no one is actually perfect.
I truly wanted to continue to shoot film and process my images in a dark room because I loved the element of surprise as well as the authenticity I could project on paper. The reality of cost and time have led me to digital – but my heart is still standing over a pan in the dark room. :) Thanks for sharing the link. Beautiful images of such a beautiful woman.
Becky, before I began my journey into photography, I had a great desire to develop my own prints in the darkroom but film in general really intimidated me. Digital made photography so much more accessible to me. And, while I look at Photoshop as a digital darkroom, it does take a bit of the romance away for me. I really admire people like you who know how to work in the darkroom. I have a friend who is an incredibly talented photographer and I am often left breathless by the depth of her film work. That’s the feeling I get when I look at the photos of Marilyn, too. My hat is off to you, Becky! Maybe one of these days I will get the opportunity to work in the darkroom, too.
I don’t know anything from film, just to take the pic….nothing about digital room in film
but i really love my digital :)
thanks for sharing this, Evie!
I have a darkroom in my garage that has not been used in over two years!! partly b/c of my lovely digital SLR, partly b/c of my lovely 2 yo :)
There is something to be said for the “perfectly imperfect” image!
Evie – what great thoughts. You have really made me think because I have been beating myself up about not getting perfect shots EVERY single TIME. I seriously do drive myself crazy this way – and I take photos of pets! I may have unrealistic expectations – don’t you think?
I’m going to take your ideas here and apply them. I’m going to make sure that I pull out at least one perfectly imperfect photo from every session. One that speaks to me and means something to me even if it’s imperfect in every way. This actually brightens up my day to give myself permission to fall in love again with the imperfection. :) Thanks, girl!
So very well said! As photographers we sometimes lose sight of the “real” world around us. It’s good to take the blinders off and look at the everyday beauty that abounds!
Beautifully written! Back to basics, I struglle with this and get caught up with a lot of the “up and up stuff I see” But need to stick to my roots and muddle through. God will guide me in the right direction ;)
I must say that I learn more about you everyday….thanks for sharing with me!!!
Very well written! Thanks for sharing…some of my favorite pictures are those that are technically imperfect.
Thanks for the food for thought!
You know what I “see” is that that artist in you has finally emerged and found her place. You’ve found what you really like. Your style is documentary. That’s what you really like. You should check out Dorothea Lange I’m sure you’d love her work. Her entire collection is here: http://www.museumca.org/global/art/collections_dorothea_lange.html even personal stuff which I find is some of my favorite stuff of hers.