Page 23 - Marilyn

After the session ended he sat on the floor by the bed and
shared an intimate and profound conversation with Marilyn.
They talked about simple things and he got to know this
woman who the world genuinely loved and most certainly
misunderstood. As Douglas states in his book, An Evening
with Marilyn, “I realized at that moment that Marilyn hadn’t
just been interested in pleasing kings, counts and presidents
all of whom she had known, but the ordinary man. This was
the guy she’d grown up with; the ‘shirtsleeves, tell it from
the gut’ individual who had no diplomatic niceties or special
agendas. If this guy liked ‘that girl’ it really counted, because
he could be trusted, he was reliable, and that reliability and
honesty was what she admired and hoped secretly to find in
a man one day herself.” A promise was made to get together
to review the photos and possibly set up another photo shoot
at a later date. It would be eight months later, after leaving a
photo shoot with Coco Chanel for Look Magazine in France,
that Douglas would come face to face with the blaring head-
lines announcing that Marilyn was dead. Douglas would go
on to shoot innumerable celebrities over the course of his
career - and continues to do so today - but he would always
hold a special place for that radiant woman who smiled up at
him from those silk sheets.

Three years later another woman would turn Douglas’ life
around. It was a chance meeting at a photo shoot in Paris.
The year was 1965 and it was Audrey Hepburn who brought
them together. Forty three years later and they still look at
each other like those young lovers. Douglas Kirkland’s wife
was a student at the Sorbonne in France. Her Mom was a
publicist for Audrey Hepburn and Douglas was photograph-
ing Audrey for a spread in Look Magazine. Francoise came
to visit her Mom, their eyes met across the room and the San Diego
rest, as they say, is history. Woman

After viewing the beautiful women in Douglas’ collection
I asked him the question all of us at San Diego Woman 23
wanted to know, “How do we get a great photo…No more
importantly…how do we come out looking like the starlets
in his photographs?” His response was unexpected. It
wasn’t about natural beauty or selecting the perfect colors,
but instead it was pretty simple: He responded, “Come
to your photo shoot with an openness, and connect with
the photographer. Try not to be nervous. It is actually the
photographer’s job to relax the subject and make them feel
comfortable. Find a photographer who will make the photo
session a positive experience. It shouldn’t be like a trip to
the dentist.” Douglas also noted that you should not overdo
the makeup, and you should be comfortable in the outfit you
choose for your photo shoot. As he notes, “I will often take
photos of my subjects in the outfit they show up to the shoot
wearing, not the one they plan for the photos, often those are
the best shots."
One of the most endearing qualities of Douglas Kirkland is
his lack of pretention. He continues to travel the world and
has published a dozen books over the course of his career,
with his next one entitled “Coco Chanel,” due out in August.
At the age of 73 Douglas works as hard today as he did
when he was a young man working for Look Magazine.

His career continued to grow after Look Magazine folded.
He worked for Life Magazine and People Magazine in their
May/June 2008