Photographer Lifts the Veil On His Infamous “Last Sitting” With Marilyn Monroe

Bert Stern: Original Madman The Photographer Lifts the Veil On His Infamous “Last Sitting” With Marilyn Monroe

Sheer scarves and accessories were the only clothes featured in Marilyn Monroe’s “Last Sitting,” shot at the Bel Air Hotel by the legendary Bert Stern for Vogue magazine in 1962. This and other defining career moments are detailed in Shannah Laumeister’s forthcoming documentary Bert Stern: Original Madman, that charts the photographer’s rise to stardom in the 1950s as one of the pioneers of the golden age of advertising. Born and raised in Brooklyn and untrained as a photographer, Stern took a job in the mailroom at Look magazine where he befriended young staff photographer Stanley Kubrick, who encouraged him to pick up a camera.

Stern would soon become known for his instantly iconic visuals for Smirnoff and Revlon campaigns but his obsession with women led him to become one of the most sought-after portraitists of his generation. With his laid-back, sensual style, Stern encouraged the starlets, models and actresses he shot to pose comfortably and openly. Now in his 80s, Stern continues to photograph women, including the documentary’s director Laumeister, who is herself a longtime muse. An accomplished actress as well as a filmmaker, Laumeister met Stern over 25 years ago when she was just 13 years old. Their friendship developed at first through his lens, then more intimately as she got older—and continues now as she turns the camera back onto him.

Bert Stern: Original Madman on Nowness.com.