Bill Ray shot some of the most iconic celebrity images of the 20th Century

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of famed LIFE magazine photographer Bill Ray.

Via the NY Post
By Isabel Vincent

January 18, 2020

Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy at 

Madison Square Garden in May 1962

When Private Elvis Presley shipped out of the Brooklyn Navy Yard on his way to his military tour of duty in West Germany in September 1958, the US Army’s brass band played “Hound Dog” to honor the King of Rock and Roll.

“And the captains and the majors helped him with his bags!” said Bill Ray, the former LIFE Magazine photographer who captured the moment.

Ray, who died earlier this month at his home on the Upper West Side, shot some of the most iconic celebrity images of the 20th century.

There is his photograph of a sultry Marilyn Monroe in a shimmering, nude-colored dress, its plunging bare back accentuating her curves as she sang a breathy rendition of “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in May 1962. Three months after Ray shot the picture on stage from behind the movie star, the troubled sex symbol would be dead of an overdose. Kennedy was assassinated a year after that, and the famous dress, designed by Hollywood costume designer Jean Louis, sold at auction a few years ago for nearly $5 million.

Ray, who worked for LIFE in Los Angeles, Paris and Beverly Hills, shot The Beatles when they first arrived in Los Angeles in 1964, partied with Roman Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate a year before the pregnant actress was brutally murdered by Charles Manson in 1969. He was a regular presence on hundreds of Hollywood movie sets, photographing Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot and Natalie Wood, among others.

“Steve McQueen once told me that he had to have sex five times a day,” said Ray about the “Bullitt” star at a 2009 presentation of his greatest work at the Coffee House Club in midtown, where he had been a member for more than 50 years. “I was too stunned to ask Steve what happens if you don’t.”

William Ray was born in Shelby, Nebraska, a windswept village of 626 about two hours west of Omaha. Ray was the youngest of four children of a prosperous lumber merchant and his artist wife. He developed such a passion for photography that by the time he was 11, he was already a member of the Omaha Camera Club and had his own professional darkroom at home. He got his first staff job as a 17-year-old at the Lincoln Star Journal newspaper.

“The city editor had a smoke and hired me on the spot,” he said.

After a photographic workshop in Hannibal, Missouri, where he impressed the faculty with a series of photographs about the local barbershop, Ray was hired by LIFE magazine and sent to New York in 1957.

“I wanted to live in New York City since I saw Fred [Astaire] dance with Ginger [Rogers] in Central Park,” he said.

For years, Ray and Marlys Ray, his wife of nearly 62 years, lived in a sprawling apartment across from Central Park where he was a regular on the tennis courts and an avid bird watcher. On January 8, the couple took a long walk in the park, feeding a few cardinals along the way, “and, best of all, saw the rising nearly full moon with a kiss (one of our silly rituals),” said Marlys Ray, a partner in her husband’s photo business.

“It was his best day in a long time.”

Ray died hours later of a heart attack. He was 83.

The most iconic Marilyn Monroe object of all time will sell at Auction

©Bill Ray: Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, Madison Square Garden, New York, May 19, 1962


Via ArtDaily.org

On November 17, 2016, Julien’s Auctions, the world-record breaking auction house to the stars, will once again make history when it exclusively offers the Marilyn Monroe “Happy Birthday Mr. President” Jean Louis creation at auction.

Life magazine photographer Bill Ray remembers that night and how he made his famous photograph here.

©Bill Ray

President John F. Kennedy at his birthday party after Marilyn Monroe Sang "Happy Birthday"

Bill Ray: My LIFE in Photography exhibit extended to February 8

Bill Ray: Hells Angels, Blackboard Cafe, 1965 ©Time Inc.

The wonderful The Eye of Photography, a daily magazine of photography, has today published a feature on the Bill Ray exhibition My LIFE in Photography. The full feature may be seen here.

We've had a tremendous response to the exhibit and as a result are pleased to announce the exhibit has been extended through February 8, 2015. We will also feature several of Bill Ray's photographs during the photo la fair in Los Angeles, January 15 - 18, in booth #203, Monroe Gallery of Photography.

View the exhibit on-line here.

Related articles: Those were the days: Bill Ray's photos capture the spirit of an age
                           LIFE’s Moments: Monroe Gallery celebrates the work of Bill Ray

Those were the days: Bill Ray's photos capture the spirit of an age

Via Pasatiempo
The Santa Fe New Mixican's Weekly Magazine of Arts, Entertainment, & Culture
by Paul Weideman

Bill Ray: Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, May, 1962

 

The scene was President Kennedy’s forty-fifth birthday bash at Madison Square Garden, and Life photographer Bill Ray wanted to find a unique angle. He surreptitiously broke away from the police-cordoned press pod and climbed up above the stage. When Marilyn Monroe walked into the spotlight to sing her now-famous rendition of “Happy Birthday,” Ray had a perspective nobody else got, above and behind the sparkly dressed star. It was just one of hundreds of singular images made by the photographer, a sampling of which opens in a newly curated exhibit at Monroe Gallery of Photography on Friday, Nov. 28.


Ray was born in Shelby, Nebraska, in 1936, a few months before the first copy of Life magazine hit the stands. He started as a staff photographer at the Lincoln Journal Star the day after graduating from high school. At seventeen, he photographed President Dwight Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon, who were visiting Nebraska. During that time, he had the opportunity to meet Gen. Curtis LeMay. It was a foreshadowing of a career full of celebrity encounters.

He went on to work for United Press International in Chicago and for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune.Then, in 1957, he turned down a job with National Geographic to begin freelancing for Life. He was soon a staffer working out of the magazine’s New York, Beverly Hills, and Paris bureaus. In his 2007 photo-filled biography, My Life in Photography, Ray says it could also have been titled “My Life With Marlys,” after the woman he met in 1956 and married in 1958. She has been an invaluable assistant — and his agent, ever since Life folded in 1972.

The many subjects in Ray’s portfolio include a newly enlisted Elvis Presley about to board a troopship bound for Germany; John and Jackie Kennedy in the early 1960s, and Jackie and Aristotle Onassis later that decade; a stunning close-up of actress Natalie Wood; a fierce Muhammad Ali in the ring; George Harrison and Bob Dylan singing at the Concert for Bangladesh; baseball star Roger Maris at bat; Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate strolling along a London street; a series on Ronald Reagan and his family; and candids of artist Isamu Noguchi and cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. Ray also did two Army tours as a photographer in Vietnam.
 

After Life ceased publication, he freelanced for Newsweek, Archaeology, Smithsonian, and Fortune, and developed a portrait specialty. “One thing I’m still good at is people,” said Ray, whose recent work includes an official portrait of “a retiring big-time minister at St. Bart’s here in New York. His predecessors had all been painted in oil, and he wanted a photograph instead.”
 

Pasatiempo: Early on, your mother supported your desire to be a photographer, isn’t that right?
 

Bill Ray: She did. She was quite a character. Both my parents were just perfect. I had a terrific childhood. My mom was very busy with her art and loved the idea of my pursuing something like that. We were not by any means wealthy, but she always found money if I needed a camera.
 

Pasa: Your main role model was Alfred Eisenstaedt. Why him?
 

Ray: It was just from reading Life magazine and having a passion about photography. I loved growing up as a kid in a tiny little town, but as I got older it was clear that I wanted to get the hell out of there. My dad would have given me the lumberyard he owned, but I didn’t want to sell two-by-fours. I had a passion about going to New York and Life magazine. Fred Astaire was from Omaha, and when I saw him dance [in a movie] with Cyd Charisse in Central Park, that was it: I’m going.

Pasa: A lot of what you did were sort of Johnny-on-the-spot news assignments covering things like a Muhammad Ali fight or Nikita Khrushchev visiting a farm in Iowa.
 

Ray: That’s right, but I also originated a few ideas. For example, in 1959, there was a little story in the paper — every morning when I got up, I’d grab The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, the Daily News, the [Daily] Mirror, and whatever else I could get my hands on — and there was a little story about a bunch of people in Detroit who were going to Alaska to homestead. I rushed over and showed the picture editor the story, and he said, “Go ahead, go.” I was very enthusiastic and worked very hard on every assignment. You have to be intense and keep going. That’s the only way to keep the assignments coming.
 

Pasa: It was pretty competitive?
 

Ray: Oh, god, at Life magazine, yeah. Everybody in the world wanted to work there.
 

Pasa: You used many different kinds of cameras. To shoot Andy Warhol, you had a giant Polaroid camera, and on the other end of the spectrum there’s a picture in the book of you at age eleven, concentrating on the viewfinder of a Speed Graphic.
 

Ray: That’s when I belonged to the Omaha Camera Club. The tiny village I grew up in was 90 miles away, so we’d go into Omaha once a week. It’s there that I met my mentor, who was a brilliant commercial photographer. He really got me on the right road to how photography technically works. The Speed Graphic was the basic tool at the newspaper I started working at when I turned seventeen in May 1953. I had a Leica and a Rolleiflex and a Linhof, but you really had to use the 4 x 5 [medium-format camera] to make the deadlines.
 

Pasa: I would think the bigger camera with the film holders was slower than a 35-millimeter camera.
 

Ray: But for most assignments, you shoot just one or two holders [two shots in each holder], and you come rushing in and soup [develop] that, and you can print a 4 x 5 negative wet.
 

Pasa: I read that Marlys always traveled with you and loaded the cameras.
 

Ray: Yeah, and she was the fastest there was at loading a Hasselblad, and she always kept the film straight. You have to know which roll is which, because I would say, “We’re going to push this roll a half [in development time to increase contrast],” or whatever. Under pressure, you have the president or Moshe Dayan and only a limited amount of time, so you really shoot like hell. We traveled a lot. We spent months in Japan, and we traveled for about 10 months with Carl Sagan around the world.
 

Pasa: Sid Monroe at the gallery told me that Life never ran the photos you took of the Hells Angels.

Bill Ray: Hells Angels, Los Angeles, 1965

 

Ray: The story was killed by the managing editor. I heard that he said, “I don’t want these smelly bastards in my magazine.” And that was after I worked on it a month. The thing about the Hells Angels is that they are now very popular. Marlys and I found those negatives and got them online, and the emails from all over the world are astounding.
 

Pasa: Your abilities show up in composition, people’s expressions and body language, and lighting — and most of what you did for Life was shot in ambient light.
 

Ray: That’s right, although I did almost 50 covers for Newsweek, for example, of Luciano Pavarotti and Itzhak Perlman, and those were all strobe. Another thing about the technique is that in those days — it seems so long ago now — you had to focus and you had to have the right exposure. Even though this digital revolution is truly a revolution — it’s just so huge it’s hard to comprehend — the basics, lighting and composition, are so important.

 

Natalie Wood on the set of "Sex and the single girl", with hairdressers, 1963

One of the places I learned composition was going to museums and looking at paintings. You kind of develop an instinct about the composition. But you have to be really fast. That’s the fun part. ◀

LIFE’s Moments: Monroe Gallery celebrates the work of Bill Ray

 

Bill Ray: Andy Warhol with Polaroid Camera, NY, 1980

 
Via The Santa Fe Reporter
LIFE’s Moments
Monroe Gallery celebrates the work of Bill Ray
November 25, 2014
By Enrique Limón

Be it as a staffer for LIFE or a would-be one for National Geographic, documenting the likes of Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy or riding along with the Hells Angels, New York-based Bill Ray is part of the elite who shone during the 1960s and ’70s with their impeccable timing and groundbreaking approach to photojournalism. On Friday, Monroe Gallery of Photography polishes off his archive and presents a comprehensive retrospective on his stunning works, several of which resonate particularly now, thanks to a poignant mix of nostalgia, superb, often on the fly technique and the current obsession with all things celebrity culture.

 “It was very busy and hectic as you would expect, but that was the norm,” Marlys, Ray’s wife of 56 years, tells SFR over the phone during what ended up being her first interview. Bill was off delivering prints to the lab.

“I made the best of it,” she continues, alluding to her husband’s busy schedule. “When he was in Vietnam in 1965, he wired and said, ‘I’m finished with the assignment and I can come home, or I can meet you somewhere,’ so I decided to rendezvous in Cairo…so you see, you always make the best of it.”

  Bill and Marlys’ love story would develop alongside his globetrotting work. More trips, accolades and encounters with the personalities of the time would follow. Ray’s roster includes iconic images of  Elvis Presley, Natalie Wood, Ella Fitzgerald and Andy Warhol, whom Marlys met.

“He was very, very quiet, patient and did exactly what Bill asked him to do,” she says of the pop artist. “It was a very successful take, and I think that double portrait of Warhol is a very nice touch.”

Reflecting on the impact of Ray’s images and the long legacy of those pictured in them, Marlys says, “They just keep going and people love them.” Back from his errands, the photographer would later email SFR singing his wife’s praises.

“Did she tell you I picked her up on a park bench in Minneapolis in 1956? Luckiest day on my life.”

-Enrique Limón

Bill Ray 5-7 pm Friday, Nov. 28 Monroe Gallery of Photography 112 Don Gaspar Ave., 992-0800
Exhibition continues through January 18, 2015

Marilyn Monroe: June 1, 1926 - August 5, 1962

Eric Skipsey - Marilyn Monroe with pet 'Maf Honey' (a gift from Frank Sinatra)

at the Beverly Hills Hotel, 1961

Sunday, August 5 is the milestone 50th anniversary of her death -- yet Marilyn is probably as big a superstar today as ever. Like Elvis Presley and James Dean, she died before her fans were ready to let go of her.


Marilyn Monroe's eternal beauty : "Marilyn Monroe may very well remain pop culture's reigning beauty queen into the next half-century."


Marilyn Monroe still an icon 50 years later


Marilyn Monroe's fame endures through pop culture, nearly 50 years after her death

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/07/27/4131976/marilyn-monroes-fame-endures-through.html#storylink=cpy

Events around Southern California marking the 50th anniversary of the death of Marilyn Monroe


To mark Marilyn Monroe's 50th death anniversary, PS Resorts announced a tribute concert set for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 5 at the site of the 26-foot-tall “Forever Marilyn.”


Collector marks the 50th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death with a straightforward compilation of her songs, from the sultry big band jazz of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” to her sweetly wistful torch-gospel routine on 1954’s “River of No Return”.

Alfred Eisenstaedt ©Time Inc.

Marilyn Monroe, Hollywood, 1953

More: photos of Monroe at home by LIFE's Alfred Eisenstaedt

Marilyn Monroe Singing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy,

Madison Square Garden, NY, 1962

©Bill Ray

Bill Ray remembers the evening Marilyn sang "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy.

50 YEARS AGO: The Night Marilyn Sang to JFK

 

Marilyn Monroe Singing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy,

Madison Square Garden, NY, 1962

©Bill Ray

On May 19, 1962 - half-century ago, on a spring night in New York City, 35 year-old screen goddess Marilyn Monroe — literally sewn into a sparkling, jaw-droppingly sheer dress — sauntered onto the stage of New York's Madison Square Garden and, with one breathless performance, forever linked sex and politics in the American consciousness. For the 15,000 spectators there that night, including LIFE photographer Bill Ray, Marilyn's "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy amplified the buzz about an affair between the two. But beyond the titillation, the moment Ray captured in this, his most iconic shot, went on to play a major role in both Marilyn's and JFK's biographies, coming as it did near the end of their short lives. As the 48th anniversary of that legendary birthday party approaches, Ray sits down with LIFE.com to share his photos from that night, most of which have never been seen, and to tell the story of how he overcame countless obstacles — the cavernous setting, tricky lighting, and security "goons" eager to keep the press at bay — to get The Shot. --- Life.com

Watch: Bill Ray's memories

Madison Square Garden Memories

"On the evening of May 19th, 1962, the brightest stars in the Hollywood galaxy joined Hollywood’s heaviest hitters and New York’s power elite at the old Madison Square Garden to celebrate with President John F. Kennedy his 45th birthday.


It was a good time to be young. The country was “moving” again. Our fathers had voted for Eisenhower; we voted for JFK. We had the Peace Corps, were going to the moon, and the New Frontier was here. It was High Tide in America.

With Jack Benny as host, and a long list of stars that featured Maria Callas, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Durante and Peggy Lee, the evening was going to be great. But the moment every one of the 17,000 guests was waiting for, was for the Queen of Hollywood, the reigning Sex Goddess, Marilyn Monroe to serenade the dashing young President.

Venus was singing to Zeus, or maybe Apollo. Their stars would cross, their worlds would collide.

I was on assignment for Life Magazine, and one of many photographers down in front of the stage.

As the show was about to start, the New York police, with directions from the Secret Service, were forcing the Press into a tight group behind a rope. I knew that all the “rope-a-dopes” would get the same shot, and that would not work for LIFE, the great American picture magazine. I squeezed between the cops and took off looking for a better place.

In addition to 2 Leicas with 35mm and 28mm lenses, and 2 Nikons with 105mm and 180mm, I brought along a new 300mm 4.5 Kilfit just for the Hell of it. I started to work my way up, one level at a time, looking for a place where I could get a shot of both MM and JFK in the same frame. An impossibility behind the rope, the 300mm telephoto was looking better and better.

It seemed that I climbed forever, feeling like Lawrence Harvey in “The Manchurian Candidate” up among the girders. When I found a pipe railing to rest the lens on, (exposure was by guess), I could see JFK through the telephoto, but the range of light level was too great. I worked with feverish intensity every second MM was on stage, but only one moment was truly magical, and perfectly exposed!

When the moment came, the Garden went black. Then all sound stopped. All that low buzz/roar that a crowd gives off stopped; total silence.

One very bright spotlight flashed on, and there was Marilyn Monroe, in the dress, the crystals sparkling and flashing. Marilyn was smiling, waiting several beats, with everyone on the edge of their seats, trying to hear the silence.

Then, in her breathy, sexy, unique voice, looking the entire time at JFK in the front row, she sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President”.

No one that night could imagine that in two and a half months, Marilyn would be dead of an overdose; in eighteen months JFK would be assassinated; Viet Nam would turn into our worst nightmare; Camelot would be gone.

Marilyn wore a dress designed by Jean Louis, that had no zippers, buttons, hooks, or snaps. The pieces were sewn together on her body. It was more or less flesh-colored, and decorated with thousands of Zwarovski crystals. Adlai Stevenson described it as “Skin and Beads”.

It was auctioned off at Christie’s in New York, October, 1999 for over 1.2 million dollars. The buyers later thought it was a steal, and said they were prepared to pay 3 million.

Though the evening was long and illustrious, and Marilyn’s song was short, the world, myself included, only remembers her, the song, the dress, and JFK’s 45th birthday.

The rest is history. " -- ©Bill Ray

President John F. Kennedy at his birthday party after Marilyn Monroe Sang "Happy Birthday", Madison Square Garden, NY, 1962 ©Bill Ray

Eve Arnold: Born 21 April 1912; Died 4 January 2012

Eve Arnold: Marilyn Monroe rehearsing lines on the set of "The Misfits", 1960

"Her intimate, sensitive and compassionate ten year collaboration with Marilyn Monroe has cemented her as one of the most iconic portrait photographers of our time, but it is the long term reportage stories that drove Arnold's curiosity and passion."--Magnum Photos agency



The Guardian: The big picture: Bar Girl in a Brothel in the Red Light District, Havana, 1954



The Independant:  All about Eve: photographer blazed a bold, beautiful trail with pictures


La Lettre de la Photographie: The death of Eve Arnold, by former Director of Magnum, Jimmy Fox



Financial Times: American photographer Eve Arnold dies aged 99

BBC: Photojournalist Eve Arnold dies aged 99

BBC Slideshow: In pictures: The work of photographer Eve Arnold


Los Angeles Times: Eve Arnold dies at 99; pioneering photojournalist

NPR The Picture Show: Photojournalist Eve Arnold Dies At 99

TIME Light Box: Eve Arnold: April 12, 1912—January 4, 2012


New York Times: Photojournalist Eve Arnold Dies at 99


NY Times Lens Blog: Parting Glance: Eve Arnold


The Guardian: Eve Arnold Celebrated Magnum photographer who documented the stars, 'the poor, the old and the underdog'


The Telegraph: American photographer Eve Arnold dies aged 99

Associated Press: Photojournalist Eve Arnold dies at 99 (with video interview)


British Journal of Photography: Magnum photographer Eve Arnold dies

                                                   Magnum photographer Eve Arnold dies [update]

Photo District News: Photographer Eve Arnold Dies


Magnum: selection of UK press clippings, obits and  tributes to Eve Arnold

Magnum Slideshow


Bookmark this page for updates and more tributes.

HAPPY (85th) BIRTHDAY MARILYN MONROE

Richard C. Miller: Marilyn Monroe, "Some Like It Hot"




Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) was born June 1 in Los Angeles (as Norma Jean Mortensen).

Richard C. Miller: Norma Jean Dougherty, 1946

Alfred Eisenstaedt: Marilyn Monroe, Hollywood, 1953

Irving Haberman: Marilyn Monroe at a New York Yankees game, c. 1954

 

Bill Ray: Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy,

Madison Square Garden, New York, May 19, 1962

Related: Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy


Swann Auction: Yesterday's top selling photograph was Alfred Eisenstaedt's Children at Puppet Theater, 1963

The Spring auction season has started. First up yesterday, Swann (via Swann blog)


FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2011
Yesterday's Top Lots: Fine Photographs

Adam Clark Vroman, Arizona and New Mexico, Volume II, album with more than 165 platinum prints, 1897. Sold for $62,400 on March 24, 2011.


Two rare photographic albums were the top lots in yesterday's Fine Photographs auction at Swann. Adam Clark Vroman's Arizona and New Mexico, Volume II, 1897, which featured more than 165 platinum prints of Native Americans, their dwellings, the famous Snake Dance and more, brought $62,400, a record price for both Vroman and the album. Linnaeus Tripe's album, Photographs of the Elliot Marbles, which can be read about here, brought $57,600.

Alfred Eisenstaedt, Children at Puppet Theatre, Paris, silver print, 1963, printed 1991. Copyright Time Inc. Sold for $48,000.


The day's top selling photograph was Alfred Eisenstaedt's Children at Puppet Theater, 1963, which sold for $48,000.
 
Also, via Swann's Twitter: "Bert Stern's unique contact sheet of Marilyn Monroe sold yesterday at Swann's Fine Photographs auction for a record $22,800"
 
Related: Born December 6: Alfred Eisenstaedt

RICHARD C. MILLER EXHIBIT ON ARTSLANT

Your spot to connect to the contemporary art world.
Stay up to date on the artists and events in the great art cities.



SANTA FE
THE WILD WEST TO 4 WOMEN




RICHARD C. MILLER: 1912 - 2010 A RETROSPECTIVE
Monroe Gallery of Photography
112 Don Gaspar , Santa Fe 87501
February 11, 2011 - April 24, 2011


Monroe Gallery of Photography is pleased to present a retrospective exhibition of photographs by Richard C. Miller, who passed away at age 98 on October 15, 2010. The exhibition opens on Friday, February 11, 5 - 7 PM. The exhibition continues through April 24. Born in 1912, Richard C. Miller's interest in photography grew from toying with his father's 3 1/4" x 4 1/4" folding roll-film camera. In 1935, Miller showed his photographs to Edward Steichen who praised and encouraged him to work in photography. Beginning in 1946, he would shoot celebrities for the Saturday Evening Post, Family Circle, Parents, American Weekly, Colliers, Life and Time.

From 1955 to 1962, Miller was on retainer at Globe Photos, covering the entertainment industry and more than seventy films. After this stint he returned to freelance and became friends with celebrities such as James Dean. Never one for self-promotion, Miller rarely exhibited his work; the work, he figured, should speak for itself. In the spring of 2009, Richard C. Miller's photographic career was given long overdue recognition with an exhibition at the Getty Museum.

In addition to his Hollywood photographs, the exhibition includes a trove of vintage pictures from the 1930s-50s of Los Angeles. When Miller documented the construction of the four-level freeway interchange in mid-20th century downtown Los Angeles, he was overwhelmed by its man-made beauty.

In 1946, Dick photographed a model: Norma Jeane Dougherty. He would later photograph her as Marilyn Monroe on the set of "Some Like It Hot". The exhibit also includes a selection of striking portraits including some of his best friends Edward Weston and Brett Weston.

The exhibit also includes a selection of striking portraits including some of his best friend Edward Weston and Brett Weston.

In addition to his Hollywood photographs, the exhibition includes a trove of vintage pictures from the 1930s-50s of Los Angeles. When Miller documented the construction of the four-level freeway interchange in mid-20th century downtown Los Angeles, he was overwhelmed by its man-made beauty.

Although he was shy, Miller was known for his warmth and eagerness to share his knowledge. A younger generation of photographers have worked to bring Miller recognition. "He was like 007 with a gun over his shoulder," family friend Michael Andrews told The Los Angeles Times in 2010. "The camera went everywhere. He must have climbed to the top of buildings, hiked up hills to get some of these perspectives."

Richard C. Miller passed away on October 15, 2010 at the age of 98.


(Images: Richard C. Miller, Marilyn Monroe,"Some Like it Hot"; Nude,1949 #2, Pigment Print, 20 x 24 inches; Freeway Construction, 4 Level, 1950, Pigment Print, 20 x 24 inches; Rock Hudson,1959, Pigment Print ,20 x 24 inches; Courtesy of Monroe Gallery of Photography)


Posted by Abhilasha Singh on 2/21

RICHARD C. MILLER EXHIBITION OPENS

Richard C. Miller:  Laurence Olivier, Tony Curtis, Peter Ustinov, Spartacus 1959

Pasatiempo
The Santa Fe New Mexican's Weekly Magazine of Arts, Entertainment, & Culture
February 11 - 17, 2011

In his long and varied photographic career, Richard C. Miller covered the entertainment industry and did publicity work for 72 films - including portraits of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Steve McQueen. He documented work on the building of the Los Angeles freeway and took many photos of Edward Weston and his son Brett Weston. A retrospective of Miller's work opens at Monroe Gallery of Photography (112 Don Gaspar Ave., 505-992-0800) with a reception at 5 p.m. today, Friday, Feb.


Related: Richard C. Miller: A Retrospective

RICHARD C. MILLER: A RETROSPECTIVE

James Dean taking a break from "Giant", 1956



Monroe Gallery of Photography is pleased to present a retrospective exhibition of photographs by Richard C. Miller, who passed away at age 98 on October 15, 2010. The exhibition opens on Friday, February 11, with a public reception with members of the Miller family from 5 - 7 PM. The exhibition continues through April 24.

Born in 1912, Richard C. Miller's interest in photography grew from toying with his father's 3 1/4" x 4 1/4" folding roll-film camera. In 1935, Miller showed his photographs to Edward Steichen who praised and encouraged him to work in photography. Beginning in the arly 1940's, he would shoot celebrities for the Saturday Evening Post, Family Circle, Parents, American Weekly, Colliers, Life and Time.

In 1941, Miller made a carbro print of his daughter, Linda, sitting at a table set for a Thanksgiving Day’s meal. He sent the picture to The Saturday Evening Post and it was selected to be on the cover of the November 22, 1941 issue. Miller’s picture was the first photographic cover used by the Post that captures the type of scene from everyday American life made famous by the painter and illustrator, Norman Rockwell. Miller began by photographing his daughter sitting at a table set with only a plate and spoon. He photographed the other elements such as the turkey, the dish of cranberry sauce, the glass of milk, and the candlestick separately. He printed them, cut them down, and then added them into the original composition. This ‘cut and paste’ method allowed him to construct the picture one element at a time, carefully balancing form and colour.

Laurence Olivier, Tony Curtis, Peter Ustinov, Spartacus 1959

From 1955 to 1962, Miller was on retainer at Globe Photos, covering the entertainment industry and more than seventy films. After this stint he returned to freelance and became friends with celebrities such as James Dean. Never one for self-promotion, Miller rarely exhibited his work; the work, he figured, should speak for itself. In the spring of 2009, Richard C. Miller's photographic career was given long overdue recognition with an exhibition at the Getty Museum.

 Betty McWilliams, c. 1940s

In addition to his Hollywood photographs, the exhibition includes a trove of vintage pictures from the 1930s-50s of Los Angeles. When Miller documented the construction of the four-level freeway interchange in mid-20th century downtown Los Angeles, he was overwhelmed by its man-made beauty.

Freeway Construction, 4 Level, 1949

"I saw it and just went out of my mind," he later wrote. "I thought, 'My God, this is how people must have felt when they first saw the cathedrals in Europe."


In 1946, Dick photographed a model: Norma Jeane Dougherty. He would later photograph her as Marilyn Monroe on the set of "Some Like It Hot".

The exhibit also includes a selection of striking portraits including some of his best friends Edward Weston and Brett Weston.

Brett and Edward Weston, Garapata, California, August 3, 1953



Although he was shy, Miller was known for his warmth and eagerness to share his knowledge. A younger generation of photographers have worked to bring Miller recognition. "He was like 007 with a gun over his shoulder," family friend Michael Andrews told The Los Angeles Times in 2010. "The camera went everywhere."
 
 

Nude #3, 1949


PORTFOLIOS

The Westons portfolio contains 19 16x20 signed prints, 6 of which are digital color and 13 are Silver Gelatin Black & Whites.


There are 8 16x20 pages of text, including introduction and notes, a centerfold of 39 images, plus 2 images on the title and colophon pages.
There are 4 15x20 pages of reproductions of original letters, printed on mouldmade rag, comprised of 4 separate letter sets.
There are 19 Interleaves which contain reproductions of 46 groups of letters, postcards, envelopes and notes from Brett Weston, Neil Weston, Merle Armitage, Erica Weston and Richard C. Miller’s notes.



The Norma Jeane portfolio contains 12 17x22 signed prints.

There are 8 17x22 pages of text, including introduction and notes, a centerfold of 35 images, plus 2 images on the title and colophon pages.
There are 12 Interleaves utilizing 17 Richard C. Miller photographic images, plus 4 model releases.

"I had no idea when I was taking these pictures that she would become famous and that the pictures would become valuable. She was just a nice, sweet, attractive girl with outrageous ambitions known at the time as "Nonny".  I just had no idea." In the years that followed, Dick occasionally took picturesof Norma Jeane as she evolved into Marilyn Monroe. Later, when Dick was employed as a freelancer for Globe Photos, he was assigned to shoot photographs on Some Like It Hot. He recalls walking onto the set his first day when Marilyn Monroe was an established movie star, and all of Nonny's dreams had become reality. When she passed him and said, "Hi Dick," he merely stared at her, dumbfounded that she even recalled who he was. He said nothing in return, not knowing which of her names he should use. By then Marilyn Monroe was no longer Nonny or Norma Jeane, the subject of this portfolio. Fame and success had changed her.



Related: Exhibition Preview in The Santa Fean Magazine

                             James Dean Would Be 80 On February 8, 2011

RICHARD C. MILLER: 1912 - 2010

We are very pleased that our forthcoming exhibition is featured in the February/March issue of The Santa Fean magazine, just out this week.

ART

openings  reviews  people



The Monroe Gallery of Photography (112 Don Gaspar, 505-992-0800, monroegallery.com), where this Richard C. Miller picture of a relaxed-in-her-gorgeousness Marilyn Monroe (from the set of the 1959 Bill Wilder classic Some Like It Hot) can be found, specializes in iconic imagery: Ellis Island in its neglected beauty, the Civil Rights movement, the famous, the infamous. But as with this color image of Marilyn, the photographer(s) at Monroe's rarely if ever seek to capitalize or promote celebrityhood or nostalgia, they're after those ineffable Garry Winogrand-type moments of the unexpected, the off-guard, the interstitial, which reveal far more about time, place, and people than anything posed or staged, such as this very human, very lovely side of a woman whose fans and handlers rarely allowed to be human or lovely. -- Devon Jackson

RICHARD C. MILLER: 1912 - 2010

A RETROSPECTIVE

Fenruary 11 - April 24

View the exhibition here.

Trove of John F. Kennedy Photos Sold for Over $150,000 at Auction in New York City

President John F. Kennedy being visited by his children Caroline and John Jr., in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington during October 1962. AP Photo/Bonhams, Cecil Stoughton

Via The Art Daily:

By: Ula Ilnytzky, Associated Press


NEW YORK (AP).- A trove of John F. Kennedy pictures by White House photographer Cecil Stoughton (STOW'-tuhn) fetched over $150,000 at a New York City auction. It included a rare image of Marilyn Monroe with the president and Robert Kennedy at a Democratic fundraiser.

The collection of 12,000 photographs was estimated to bring in $200,000. It was offered by Stoughton's estate at Bonhams auction house Thursday.

The Monroe image, contained in an envelope labeled "Sensitive Material — May 19, 1962," sold for just over $9,000. The price included the buyers premium and was above its presale estimate of $4,000 to $6,000.

"It's the only image of the three of them together," said Matthew Haley, Bonhams' expert for books, manuscripts and historical photographs. "There are very few prints of this photo." (Please contact Monroe Gallery of Photography for details)

Stoughton was the first official White House photographer. He captured public as well as intimate Kennedy moments. About 60 percent of the images are of public events. The rest are of private moments: the children's birthday parties, family Christmases, and vacations in Hyannis Port, Mass.

One of Stoughton's most famous images shows Lyndon B. Johnson being sworn in aboard Air Force One following Kennedy's assassination Nov. 22, 1963. The photo shows Johnson with his hand raised taking the oath of office surrounded by his wife and Jacqueline Kennedy still wearing her blood-splattered dress.

"It is one of the most iconic images of the 20th century," said Haley.

Johnson signed it: "To Cecil Stoughton, with high regards and appreciation, Lyndon B. Johnson."

In the immediate chaotic aftermath of the assassination, Stoughton learned that Johnson was being sworn in on the aircraft on a Dallas airfield and rushed over in a car, said Haley. As he was running across the tarmac, "the Secret Service thought it was another assassination attempt and almost fired at him," he said.

Haley said Stoughton's camera jammed just as Johnson was about to be sworn in but he gave it a good shake and it starting working again.

The Monroe picture with the two Kennedy brothers was saved from being destroyed by the Secret Service. It was taken at a private Manhattan residence right after the actress infamously sang "Happy Birthday" to the president at Madison Square Garden in a simmering tight dress.

Haley said, "There apparently was a directive to the Secret Service that Monroe not be photographed with the president."

He said agents visited Stoughton's darkroom afterward and removed some negatives but overlooked the one of the threesome because it was in a tray being washed.

Among the more intimate photos of the Kennedy family is one from 1962 that shows the president sitting in a chair near his desk in the Oval Office while his children, Caroline and John-John, dance before him. It's inscribed by Kennedy: "Captain Stoughton — who captured beautifully a happy moment at the White House, John F. Kennedy."

Related: 48 YEARS AGO: MARILYN MONROE SINGS "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" TO PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY

             Marilyn Monroe, Kennedys Recalled in White House Archive Sale

Marilyn Monroe, Kennedys Recalled in White House Archive Sale

Bloomberg.com
By Katya Kazakina

©Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- An image of Marilyn Monroe in a skin-tight, pearl-encrusted dress flanked by President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert, then U.S. attorney general, used to be kept in an envelope tagged “Sensitive material.”

Part of a lot estimated at $4,000 to $6,000, the photograph will be sold at Bonhams in New York as part of the 12,000-image archive of Cecil Stoughton, the first official White House photographer.

Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s election, the sale is expected to fetch as much as $250,000 on Dec. 9, 2010.

“She is wearing an outrageous dress,” said Matthew Haley, historical photograph specialist at Bonhams, in a telephone interview. “We believe it’s the only picture where the three of them appear together.”

The actress, who died less than three months after the picture was taken, was romantically linked to both Kennedy brothers.

Kennedy was the first president to create an official position for a White House photographer.

Some images show Kennedy “playing golf, swimming, sailing, smoking cigars,” said Haley. “The next image would be of him addressing the Senate or the United Nations.”

Dark Day

The black-and-white Monroe photograph was taken on May 19, 1962, the day she sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to Kennedy at the packed Madison Square Garden in New York.

Bill Ray: Marilyn Monroe Singing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, Madison Square Garden, NY, 1962

Bill Ray: President John F. Kennedy at his birthday party after Marilyn Monroe Sang "Happy Birthday", Madison Square Garden, NY, 1962

Another print shows Kennedy and his children John Jr. and Caroline playing in the Oval Office. The black-and-white image bears an inscription: “For Captain Stoughton -- who captured beautifully a happy moment at the White House / John F. Kennedy.” The lot has an estimated range of $7,000 to $9,000.

In other pictures, the children are “making faces, playing or sitting at a conference table where you normally expect to see statesmen and ambassadors,” said Haley.

Stoughton was traveling in the motorcade on the day Kennedy was murdered in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. His documentation of the day includes the hospital where Kennedy was rushed.

Within hours of the assassination, Stoughton took a historic shot of Lyndon B. Johnson’s swearing-in ceremony aboard Air Force One, with Jackie Kennedy, looking shell-shocked, by his side. The print’s estimated to take in $5,000 to $7,000.

“He didn’t even wait until he got to Washington to be sworn in,” said Haley. “Cecil was the only photographer present for the occasion.”

To contact the reporter of this story: Katya Kazakina in New York at kkazakina@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.

Related: 48 Years Ago, Marilyn Monroe Sings "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy

48 YEARS AGO: MARILYN MONROE SINGS "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" TO PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY

On May 19, 1962, screen goddess Marilyn Monroe — literally sewn into a sparkling, jaw-droppingly sheer dress — sauntered onto the stage of New York's Madison Square Garden and, with one breathless performance, forever linked sex and politics in the American consciousness. For the 15,000 spectators there that night, including LIFE photographer Bill Ray, Marilyn's "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy amplified the buzz about an affair between the two. But beyond the titillation, the moment Ray captured in this, his most iconic shot, went on to play a major role in both Marilyn's and JFK's biographies, coming as it did near the end of their short lives. As the 48th anniversary of that legendary birthday party approaches, Ray sits down with LIFE.com to share his photos from that night, most of which have never been seen, and to tell the story of how he overcame countless obstacles — the cavernous setting, tricky lighting, and security "goons" eager to keep the press at bay — to get The Shot. ---life.com

Marilyn Monroe Singing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, Madison Square Garden, NY, 1962

 ©Bill Ray

Madison Square Garden Memories

"On the evening of May 19th, 1962, the brightest stars in the Hollywood galaxy joined Hollywood’s heaviest hitters and New York’s power elite at the old Madison Square Garden to celebrate with President John F. Kennedy his 45th birthday.


It was a good time to be young. The country was “moving” again. Our fathers had voted for Eisenhower; we voted for JFK. We had the Peace Corps, were going to the moon, and the New Frontier was here. It was High Tide in America.

With Jack Benny as host, and a long list of stars that featured Maria Callas, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Durante and Peggy Lee, the evening was going to be great. But the moment every one of the 17,000 guests was waiting for, was for the Queen of Hollywood, the reigning Sex Goddess, Marilyn Monroe to serenade the dashing young President.

Venus was singing to Zeus, or maybe Apollo. Their stars would cross, their worlds would collide.

I was on assignment for Life Magazine, and one of many photographers down in front of the stage.

As the show was about to start, the New York police, with directions from the Secret Service, were forcing the Press into a tight group behind a rope. I knew that all the “rope-a-dopes” would get the same shot, and that would not work for LIFE, the great American picture magazine. I squeezed between the cops and took off looking for a better place.

In addition to 2 Leicas with 35mm and 28mm lenses, and 2 Nikons with 105mm and 180mm, I brought along a new 300mm 4.5 Kilfit just for the Hell of it. I started to work my way up, one level at a time, looking for a place where I could get a shot of both MM and JFK in the same frame. An impossibility behind the rope, the 300mm telephoto was looking better and better.

It seemed that I climbed forever, feeling like Lawrence Harvey in “The Manchurian Candidate” up among the girders. When I found a pipe railing to rest the lens on, (exposure was by guess), I could see JFK through the telephoto, but the range of light level was too great. I worked with feverish intensity every second MM was on stage, but only one moment was truly magical, and perfectly exposed!

When the moment came, the Garden went black. Then all sound stopped. All that low buzz/roar that a crowd gives off stopped; total silence.

One very bright spotlight flashed on, and there was Marilyn Monroe, in the dress, the crystals sparkling and flashing. Marilyn was smiling, waiting several beats, with everyone on the edge of their seats, trying to hear the silence.

Then, in her breathy, sexy, unique voice, looking the entire time at JFK in the front row, she sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President”.

No one that night could imagine that in two and a half months, Marilyn would be dead of an overdose; in eighteen months JFK would be assassinated; Viet Nam would turn into our worst nightmare; Camelot would be gone.

Marilyn wore a dress designed by Jean Louis, that had no zippers, buttons, hooks, or snaps. The pieces were sewn together on her body. It was more or less flesh-colored, and decorated with thousands of Zwarovski crystals. Adlai Stevenson described it as “Skin and Beads”.

It was auctioned off at Christie’s in New York, October, 1999 for over 1.2 million dollars. The buyers later thought it was a steal, and said they were prepared to pay 3 million.

Though the evening was long and illustrious, and Marilyn’s song was short, the world, myself included, only remembers her, the song, the dress, and JFK’s 45th birthday.

The rest is history. " -- ©Bill Ray

President John F. Kennedy at his birthday party after Marilyn Monroe Sang "Happy Birthday", Madison Square Garden, NY, 1962 ©Bill Ray