Douglas_Kirkman

Douglas Kirkman presents a series of photographs of Marilyn Monroe taken in 1961, when Marilyn was 35 years old. The series has Marilyn Monroe naked and wrapped in a white silk sheet, lying on a mattress on the floor that also has a white silk sheet on it, in different posies. Marilyn’s hair color matches the color of the sheets. Douglas Kirkman took these photos from a loft above Marilyn Monroe, so he was looking down at her when taking the pictures. After taking this series of photos of Marilyn Monroe, Douglas Kirkman stated, “I was just a breath away from a goddess”. Douglas Kirkman’s photographers show the different sides of Marilyn Monroe. The Hollywood image that everyone knows: the very sensual and beautiful Marilyn Monroe. And the real or natural side of Marilyn Monroe: the innocent and shy Norma Jeane. The first photo has Marilyn on her right side hugging a pillow to her head; with her back arched and her legs bent together. Her lips are slightly separated, with very sexy sultry eyes: almost sleepy like eyes. When the viewer looks at the first photo they see that Hollywood icon, the sexy sultry movie star that everyone has come to know and love. Her trademark: lisp, breathless voice, her platinum blonde hair and her voluptuous figure. It almost looks like one of the many pinups you would find any guy having up on his wall back in the early sixties. Marilyn Monroe was obviously a very beautiful woman with a natural sensually about her. She had a natural way of using her sensually to get what she wanted. This is a side of Marilyn that Douglas Kirkman has portrayed and captured very well in this photograph. The second photo has Marilyn lying on her back, silk sheet still wrapped around her with her holding the top of the sheet to her chest. Marilyn has a very big natural smile on her face. The viewer gets to see a different side of Marilyn in this photograph. In this photograph Douglas Kirkman has captured the natural or real side of Marilyn Monroe: Norma Jeane. Kirkman managed to capture the fun loving, carefree, shy and innocent side of Marilyn. Almost as if Kirkman took this photo when Marilyn wasn’t expecting it and got it on film. The viewer instantly sees Norma Jeane, when they look at this photo. The viewer sees the young Norma Jeane that was raised on a farm in California; that was shy and innocent. Did Hollywood exploit Marilyn Monroe and her natural sexuality' Did they make her into something she really wasn’t, just for the money' Or did Marilyn use Hollywood for what she wanted' Kirkman photographs suggest that there were many sides to this beautiful, sensual, but very well educated woman. In all the photographs that Kirkman took of Marilyn in this series, she was always wrapped in a white silk sheet. There is a softness about these photographs. But what the viewer sees in each image is a different Marilyn Monroe. Showing that Douglas Kirkman was able to show through his photographs: that there were many sides of Marilyn Monroe. And not just the side everyone knew as the sexy actress icon.