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Marilyn Monroe: From Factory Girl to Hollywood Icon
28 Oct
Summary
- Early photos captured Norma Jeane Dougherty at a factory in 1945.
- Photography, not drones, fueled Marilyn Monroe's rise.
- New exhibit highlights photography's role in her transformation.
An exhibition at the New York Historical delves into the pivotal role photography played in the rise of Marilyn Monroe. In the spring of 1945, a young Norma Jeane Dougherty was photographed by David Conover while working on assembly line #5 at the Radioplane factory in Burbank, California.
Conover was struck by her "luminous quality," a fragile yet vibrant presence that would soon captivate the world. These early images, taken while she was putting propellers on pilotless planes, were instrumental in her transition from factory worker to a successful model and ultimately, a legendary Hollywood actress.
Now, 100 years after her birth, the New York Historical exhibition explores how these photographs and their publication in mass-circulation magazines transformed Norma Jeane into the iconic Marilyn Monroe, spotlighting the technology that truly propelled her to stardom.
