Richard Avedon on Marilyn

“For hours she danced and sang and flirted and did this thing that’s—she did Marilyn Monroe. The white wine helped things along. Then there was the inevitable drop … she sat in the corner like a child, with everything gone. I wouldn’t photograph her without her knowledge of it. And as I came with the camera, I saw that she was not saying no.”

–Richard Avedon

These rarely seen photographs were taken after a session with Richard Avedon at his New York studio in 1957. The photo below is the frame that went on to become one of the most famous portraits ever made.

(c) The Richard Avedon Foundation