As many times as I've seen this photo, I'm still amazed that this is Monroe, in many ways it's so different from "Marilyn". Wonder if there's any other surviving photos (that the public's never seen) from that shoot, where Marilyn dressed as Lillian Russell, Bara, Clara Bow, Harlow, and Dietrich ?
A wonderfully rich composition on the femme fatale. Things which I notice:
The serpent-like allusion by the way Marilyn's arms frame her head hood-like, by that piercing hypnotic stare of hers, by the S-shape of her body leading to the snake-skin pattern of the drapery on the right. (Caution!)
All those rich surfaces and textures inviting us to reach in to see how they/she would feel to the touch. Those dark, unsettling areas top-left corner and above her hip. What could be lurking back there? (Caution!)
The three red areas of material, spirals in a vortex drawing us in, or could they be petals of some deadly flower trap? (Caution!)
Another image of her with more obvious intentions: https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/011_Monroe_Theda-1200x966.jpg
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Pre-raphaelite vision à la Alma-Tadema!
As many times as I've seen this photo, I'm still amazed that this is Monroe, in many ways it's so different from "Marilyn". Wonder if there's any other surviving photos (that the public's never seen) from that shoot, where Marilyn dressed as Lillian Russell, Bara, Clara Bow, Harlow, and Dietrich ?
A wonderfully rich composition on the femme fatale. Things which I notice:
The serpent-like allusion by the way Marilyn's arms frame her head hood-like, by that piercing hypnotic stare of hers, by the S-shape of her body leading to the snake-skin pattern of the drapery on the right. (Caution!)
All those rich surfaces and textures inviting us to reach in to see how they/she would feel to the touch. Those dark, unsettling areas top-left corner and above her hip. What could be lurking back there? (Caution!)
The three red areas of material, spirals in a vortex drawing us in, or could they be petals of some deadly flower trap? (Caution!)
Another image of her with more obvious intentions:
https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/011_Monroe_Theda-1200x966.jpg
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