Francoise Kirkland, the widow of renowned photographer Douglas Kirkland, has revealed that she was initially unimpressed by her husband's famous 1961 photo session with Marilyn Monroe. In a recent interview, she admitted that as a 22-year-old French intellectual, she would have been more impressed if he had photographed Pablo Picasso.
Francoise Kirkland's Initial Reaction
“I had heard that he’d photographed Marilyn, because he came with that reputation, but I wasn’t that impressed,” Francoise Kirkland told the Press Association. “I mean I was a 22-year-old French intellectual girl, well, supposedly intellectual, and at that time, if he had told me he’d photographed Picasso, I would have thought, ‘oh, okay’, but Marilyn, I mean…we’re all a little bit of a snob at times.”
Despite her initial skepticism, Francoise Kirkland eventually grew to appreciate the iconic images. She has now curated a new book titled Douglas Kirkland: Marilyn. A Magical Dance, published by Damiani Books to commemorate what would have been Monroe's 100th birthday.
The Iconic 1961 Photo Shoot
In 1961, a 27-year-old Douglas Kirkland photographed Monroe for Look magazine. The shoot took place when Monroe was 35 and at the peak of her fame. She famously requested only three things for the session: champagne, Frank Sinatra records, and silk sheets. The resulting images, captured just nine months before Monroe's death at age 36, have become some of the most notorious photographs of the Hollywood star.
According to Francoise Kirkland, her husband recalled that Monroe arrived three hours late for the shoot but wasted no time once she arrived. The photographer also remembered Monroe sharing details of her “unhappy childhood,” and the two promised to meet again for another shoot, but she died the following year.
A Unique Book Project
Francoise Kirkland decided to present the photographs in a unique format: a hardcover leporello (a fold-out book) that includes handwritten reflections from Douglas Kirkland, who died in 2022 at age 88. “I decided that maybe it would be like a fun thing to reinvent Douglas’ session with Marilyn, but in that form,” she said. “I’m a little bit tired of big books and wanted something that was tactile and that people could also display and put on a shelf.”
She added that while the story of the famous photography session is “not new,” the book offers a “different way of telling it.”
Balancing Innocence and Sexiness
Reflecting on the photographs, Francoise Kirkland noted that they capture a balance between Monroe's “innocence and playfulness with sexiness.” She described the images as making Monroe “more accessible” and revealing a “vulnerability.”
Throughout his career, Douglas Kirkland photographed numerous Hollywood stars, including Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, and Sophia Loren. However, Francoise Kirkland joked that the biggest rival in their marriage was not these beautiful actresses but his camera. “It was his passion and he put his entire life and effort into it. The camera was really like a lover,” she said, recalling how he would sometimes bring a new camera to bed to examine it.
Preserving Douglas Kirkland's Legacy
Since her husband's death, Francoise Kirkland has worked on several projects and exhibitions highlighting his work. She emphasized the importance of keeping his memory alive through his art. “It’s always said when someone you love who you’ve spent your life with dies. But my mission is about the same as it was when Douglas was alive, and I really do think that you as long as someone says your name, the last person that says it is when you die. So, my way of keeping Douglas alive, apart from personal feelings, is helping his work continue to be recognised,” she told the Press Association.
