SAM SHAW created one of the most iconic images of the late-20th century: Marilyn Monroe with her white dress ablow for The Seven Year Itch in 1955. Shaw not only took the photographs, he came up with the original idea, persuaded the actress to agree to the poses, and “styled” them with his own hands; four professional jobs by today’s industry standards. But he was, too, the producer of John Cassavetes’s films. A fixer, a go-between and publicist, Shaw was a well-read, sophisticated and charming cultural omnivore with an awesome range of contacts and interests.
Sam was an artist first and foremost, one who happened to choose photography as his medium. He very much viewed the world and his own life experience from a cinematographic perspective, rather like a series of film takes. Sam’s wide range of pictorial works graced the covers of innumerable publications around the globe.By the forties Sam had already become recognised for his documentary representation highlighting various aspects of different, often little known corners of life across the United States. His in-depth photographic coverage for Collier’s magazine in the “How America Lives” series garnered him and writer Henry Henderson critical acclaim and attention. These images have become important historical depictions of life in the United States during the forties.The first film Shaw produced was Paris Blues in 1961, under the auspices of Marlon Brando’s company “Pennebaker”.
A romantic tale of jazz musicians in France, starring Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier, it was very much of Shaw’s aesthetic, and included a moody score by Louis Armstrong. The link between this movie and Cassavetes’s films is obvious, a poetic vision of bruised male grace and nocturnal camaraderie.Shaw introduced Cassavetes to burlesque houses in 1950s New York and remained one of his most devoted collaborators. Indeed a section in Husbands where the men discover themselves transported in a drunken fugue to London was inspired by Shaw’s experiences during Viva Zapata. Shaw left Brando drunk on set in Texas one night; the next day he was spotted strolling in Manhattan.
Shaw was also Cassavetes’s production designer on Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976), a storyboard artist for several films and producer of A Woman Under the Influence (1974, for which he also won several international awards for his advertising campaign), Opening Night (1978) and Gloria (1980).Despite the vast breadth of his photographic portfolio, Sam remains most widely recognised for his photos of Marilyn Monroe, this is in large part due to the public’s fascination with the glittering life and tragic end to this incandescent star that never seems to dim, having long since propelled her to icon status. Shaw first met Marilyn on the set of Viva Zapata, where she worked as an extra and she became his “driver” picking him up each day. Extras did not have to be on the set until 11am and that suited him fine.
When he read the script of The Seven Year Itch he thought of Monroe for the part of “the girl upstairs”, and recalled photographs he had taken for Friday magazine of sailors at Coney Island, with their girlfriends’ skirts blowing in the wind. He devised the publicity stunt in which Monroe’s skirt was blown up by a gust of air escaping from an subway vent on Lexington Avenue. The event gathered 15,000 fans (and almost as many journalists), blocked Manhattan traffic and ended her marriage to Joe DiMaggio. Shaw himself took the official photographs of the scene in the film, which were shot in studio.Shaw himself published three books about the actress: Marilyn Monroe as The Girl (1955), The Joy of Marilyn (1979) and Marilyn Among Friends (1987).
A fourth book Marilyn – The New York Years (2004) was published five years after his death.This book spans his entire working life over five decades, from photojournalism, crime, sports and portraiture to film-making. Lorie Karnath travelled the world with hm, her very personal memories of these journeys and of their long-term friendship serve to further enhance Shaw’s photography.It’s beautifully produced with a classic photographic hardboard cover featuring Marilyn shopping on Fifth Avenue, New York City in 1957.
By Fraser Penney
