Marilyn and Andre de Dienes 1949

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written by Immortal Marilyn | views: 1751

Andre de Dienes, one of the first and perhaps most renowned photographers of Marilyn, was born in Transylvania in 1913. Tragically at the age of fifteen his mother committed suicide, driving a young de Dienes to pack up and leave home, heading west across Europe in 1928, mostly on foot until he arrived in Tunisia in the north of Africa. He made a basic income from being an odd job man, turning his hand to whatever he could to raise a few coins and also it was in this time his artistic side began to flourish as he learned how to paint. And also it was at this point in history where a crucial turning point can be marked; de Dienes purchase of his first camera, a 35mm Retina. He continued on his travels, venturing across Europe he arrived in Paris in the year 1933 to study art, and shortly after another notable purchase can be mentioned, his second camera, a Rolleiflex. Perhaps this was the turning point for de Dienes to now want to capture the subject of his artwork with a simple, yet complex machine that captures an image onto film, rather than a humble paintbrush and pencils. And the switch paid off; he became totally fascinated with photography which in the end he turned into his living. He worked for publishing companies such as the communist newspaper La Humanite, and was also under the employment of The Associated Press until 1936, when Parisian couturier Captain Molyneux saw his work and urged him to take up a role as a fashion photographer.

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1938 would be the year in which de Dienes received a big break, in the form of Arnold Gingrich, editor of Esquire magazine offering him work with the magazine out in New York, and also financially helped with the cost of the trip. Upon his arrival de Dienes began work for Esquire as well as other big names such as fashion bible Vogue, Life magazine and also Montgomery Ward. Whenever presented with time off from his work, de Dienes was noted to enjoy vacationing around the more picturesque parts of the USA, photographing the glorious sights of the Apache, Hopi, and Navajo reservations and their inhabitants. Many years of work in New York, and many vacations to America’s most naturally beautiful destinations followed up until 1944, when de Dienes grew dissatisfied and bored with his role as a fashion photographer, and once again packed his bags and left for pastures new. This time he set his sights on California, the bright lights of Hollywood in specific where he settled and began work on the two subjects he felt more artistic passion for; nudes and landscapes. It was nature, both in the naked form of a human and the beauty of a landscape untouched by the hand of man that drew out the most notable work from de Dienes. He considered it bad form to alter or manipulate any photograph, citing that it was the endurance, the skill, the patience and the imagination of the photographer that made his work great. He championed natural, untouched beauty in front of the lens as much as he did behind it.

The year 1945 would be a highly notable one for de Dienes, for this was the year he would first meet and work with the young lady the world would later come to know as Marilyn Monroee. At the time the nineteen year old Norma Jeane Baker was a model on the books of Emile Snively’s Blue Book Model Agency, and after taking a call from de Dienes and being informed of an idea for a project involving artistic nude shots Ms Snively informed him of Norma Jeane, a new name on her books who she thought might be interested in the job with de Dienes. And after suggesting as much to Norma Jeane, a meeting was arranged and she was sent on her first assignment that day, being given de Dienes address upon where she arrived later that afternoon. In his memoirs, de Dienes remembers the first time he met Norma Jeane vividly and with much affection and enthusiasm; ‘When Norma Jeane arrived at my bungalow later in the afternoon, it was as if a miracle had happened to me. Norma Jeane seemed to be like an angel. I could hardly believe it for a few moments. An earthly, sexy-looking angel! Sent expressly for me! The impact Norma Jeane had on me was tremendous.

As minutes passed, I fell more and more in love with Norma Jeane; there was an immediate rapport between us. She responded to everything I said. She started to look around in my room examining all the pictures I put on the walls and began asking questions. I had the immediate feeling that she was something special, something different from most girls and models I had met before her, mainly because she was so eager to ask questions about me and the pictures I put on the walls. She wanted to know many things right away, she was interested in me! She was utterly sincere; she did not wish to speak about herself, except when I asked her my own questions. She was sincere in wanting to know who I was and what I was doing with my life, and I began to amuse her exceedingly with all sorts of stories that ran through my mind and I just kept dishing them out to her. I still remember it as clearly as if it happened just recently’.