In a recent conversation with Getty Images\u2019 Director of Archive Photography Bob Ahern and Chief Entertainment Photographer Mike Coppola, we discussed how Marilyn Monroe’s continuing photographic presence is not merely a story about her, but also a deeper one on the golden age of celebrity and the role of visual media in shaping that era. We also look at how shifts in access, technology, and social media have transformed the way we see and interact with celebrities today. Here are the highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How Photography Immortalized Marilyn Monroe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredible to still think of celebrities that died so early,\u201d photographer Mike Coppola reflects at the start of our conversation. \u201cIt\u2019s Marilyn\u2019s hundredth birthday, and she still occupies such a presence in our minds and our hearts.\u201d And it\u2019s not just older generations who remember her. Coppola recalls asking his 16-year-old daughter if she knew who the actress was. \u201cShe looked at me like I was crazy,\u201d he laughs. \u201cShe said, \u2018Of course, Dad, everybody knows who Marilyn Monroe is.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Bob Ahern, Marilyn Monroe\u2019s longevity is inseparable from the medium of photography itself. \u201cThis had much to do with the new ease and dissemination of still photography during this time period,\u201d he explains. \u201cMarilyn was also working with some of the greatest photographers of her generation. That didn\u2019t hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n What also didn\u2019t hurt was that her image began to circulate during the popularity of photo magazines like Life<\/em> and Look<\/em>. Ahern shared specifically how Philippe Halsman photographed Marilyn for her first Life<\/em> cover in 1952, and it quickly became one of the most collectible covers in the magazine\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also helping push her fame forward was the Hollywood PR machine, as well as camera technology that enabled photographers to achieve unprecedented intimacy with their subjects. Everywhere you turned, there was Marilyn. Whether in carefully lit studio portraits<\/a> or spontaneous, seemingly unguarded moments, these images made viewers feel even closer to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked to define the \u201cgolden age\u201d of celebrity photography, Coppola immediately pictures the glamour of mid-century Hollywood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I think of, the classic movie stars,\u201d he says, referencing figures like Audrey Hepburn, James Dean, Clark Gable, and Humphrey Bogart. \u201cThe Hollywood lighting, the backlighting, the soft posing. The studios put so much effort and emphasis into these images.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahern expands on that idea, noting that the period from the late 1930s through the 1950s represented a unique convergence of celebrity culture and photographic freedom. \u201cYou had photographers able to move around and gain access to celebrities in a way that is very different from today,\u201d he explains, citing publications like Life<\/em> and Look<\/em>, as well as Picture Post<\/em>. \u201cThere was the freedom as well as the spontaneity to do things. There was this incredibly different visual record compared to what we get today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Collectively, we were struck by the evolution of a young, seemingly na\u00efve Norma Jeane Baker into the carefully constructed persona of Marilyn Monroe, and how photographers seemed to capture both identities simultaneously. Long before social media made its mark, Marilyn understood the importance of image curation, visual storytelling, and the tension between public access and personal control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Coppola and Ahern agree that her vulnerability remained visible beneath the styling, lighting, and celebrity machinery built around her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coppola went further, comparing that evolution to contemporary celebrity culture, using pop singer Sabrina Carpenter as a modern parallel. \u201cI photographed Sabrina ten years ago when she was virtually unknown. Now I can barely get near her as someone who is not only famous, but someone who is fully aware of her image with everything done with intention and purpose, whether it\u2019s on the Met Gala red carpet or during a performance at Coachella.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Early in a celebrity\u2019s rise, he notes, photographers often shape the image collaboratively. Later, stars become increasingly aware of their public persona and begin directing their own performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMarilyn, as she progressed over time, really knew what she was doing,\u201d Coppola observes. \u201cVersus the Norma Jeane era, where the photographers would take more guidance over her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahern adds, \u201cThe symbiotic relationship between the camera\/lens, celebrity, and the audience is a beautiful construct. Marilyn was extremely collaborative because she wanted control and agency over her image. An early resonance of influencer culture and what appeals to audiences today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea of Marilyn Monroe’s presence in today\u2019s media landscape made us think about what the implications might be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI keep thinking about what she would be like at the Met Gala, a place where you\u2019re not promoting anything, but you\u2019re there because of your influence and place in pop culture,\u201d Coppola explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n He compares the starlet\u2019s meticulous image control to stars like Lady Gaga and Madonna, artists who deeply understand fame as performance and iconography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We turn our conversation to Kim Kardashian wearing Marilyn Monroe\u2019s famous dress to the 2022 Met Gala, an event that sparked enormous public reaction. \u201cThe fact that a Kardashian could have access to anything in the world and chose that dress specifically shows Marilyn\u2019s influence,\u201d Coppola says. \u201cIt was an honor and also incredibly telling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahern and Coppola agree that Marilyn\u2019s image endures as shorthand for glamour, resilience, vulnerability, and old-Hollywood mystique. \u201cModern celebrities,\u201d they note, \u201cstill borrow from her visual language and legacy because audiences instantly recognize it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of building and maintaining an archive as important as that of Marilyn Monroe, Ahern carefully describes Getty Images’ philosophy as intentionally conservative, preserving the photographs by balancing restoration with historical integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe authenticity and veracity of an archive picture is sacrosanct,\u201d he explains. \u201cRather than aggressively \u2018restoring\u2019 photographs into polished modern versions, Getty Images focuses on preventative conservation rather than restoration. Digitally, minor corrections, like dust removal or color balancing in faded film stock, may occur, but the goal is to make material accessible while maintaining the integrity of the original object.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahern continues: \u201cWe\u2019d rather preserve the journey of that object as it exists today rather than restore it to some imagined former glory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The archive itself extends beyond the final published image. Getty Images preserves original daybooks, contact sheets, index cards, and unpublished frames, allowing future generations to reinterpret history. \u201cIt sounds geeky,\u201d Ahern jokes, \u201cbut it\u2019s magical, as well as foundational to how we think about accurate and trusted content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As one of the world\u2019s largest archives, Getty Images\u2019 vast collection holds 150 million images tracing back to the beginning of photography, along with a video collection containing 3.1 million hours of offline video footage. Each year, Getty Images archivists and curators continuously uncover news gems from its four archival facilities located across the globe, along with content from image partners, bringing hundreds of thousands of newly digitized images and videos to the company\u2019s site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahern adds, \u201cEach frame uncovered is the chance to bring new meaning, new context, and new narrative. It\u2019s history unfolding daily, ensuring that decades of visual history remain protected, accessible, and relevant for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n A discussion on color <\/a>versus black-and-white<\/a> photography struck up a particularly revealing moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are many Marilyn Monroe images that exist in color,\u201d says Ahern, \u201cyet audiences overwhelmingly associate her with black-and-white imagery. The monochrome aesthetic feels inseparable from her mythology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Says Coppola: \u201cThere are certain things that just need to live in my mind in black and white,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Black-and-white photographs, especially candid work like Ed Feingersh\u2019s famous 1955 subway series, evoke a kind of emotional timelessness. \u201cMarilyn appears less like a manufactured icon and more like a person moving through the city anonymously,\u201d says Ahern. \u201cIt couldn\u2019t be more anti-celebrity if it tried,\u201d he says of the subway photographs, \u201cbut they\u2019re beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And of course, there\u2019s the iconic image by Sam Shaw of Marilyn standing over a subway grate in New York City on September 15th<\/sup>, 1954, while filming The Seven Year Itch, <\/em>which similarly transcends the specifics of color or costume, Ahern maintains. \u201cIts power lies in silhouette, gesture, spontaneity, and photographic memory itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the conversation shifts toward younger generations, both Coppola and Ahern express optimism about photography\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahern says that despite younger audiences growing up in a digital world, they are increasingly drawn to analog aesthetics, including grain, imperfections, film stocks, vintage cameras, and tangible prints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile AI technologies are unleashing an incredible amount of creativity, there\u2019s a yearning to reframe our experience back in authenticity,\u201d he describes. \u201cThat nostalgia is visible everywhere, from film simulations in modern cameras to the resurgence of instant photography and the embrace of \u201cimperfect\u201d imagery in fashion campaigns and celebrity branding. We are seeing how the past is driving creative inspiration to tell stories today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coppola notes that influencers with enormous digital followings understand the prestige and permanence associated with an agency such as Getty Images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey love Getty Images,\u201d he says. \u201cThey see value in the immediacy of the images and where they live historically, and also the credibility of our watermark.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n For the last three decades, Getty Images has established itself as a trusted source in the entertainment industry, covering 70,000 entertainment events a year and providing unmatched scale in capturing and delivering high-quality visual content across awards, fashion, film, and global cultural moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps the most striking idea to emerge from the conversation is this: Marilyn Monroe\u2019s legacy is not fixed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHistory is always shifting,\u201d Ahern explains. \u201cEvery generation discovers Marilyn Monroe differently. Some encounter her through classic cinema. Others through fashion editorials, museum exhibitions, or social media platforms. Yet the photographs remain central to all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the conversation draws to a close, the consensus is that Marilyn Monroe transcends chronology. She exists simultaneously as a Hollywood construct and <\/em>a deeply human subject, glamorous and fragile, controlled and candid, iconic and accessible. \u201cA hundred years after her birth, she is still teaching us how photography shapes fame, and how an archive like the one at Getty Images preserves not just images, but also emotions, memory, cultural identity and evolution,\u201d Ahern sums up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Explore Getty Images\u2019 \u201cMarilyn Monroe: 100 Years \u2013 An Enduring Legacy\u201d archive <\/em>here<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Article Lead Image: Marilyn in Grand Central StationActress Marilyn Monroe takes the subway in Grand Central Station on March 24, 1955, in New York City, New York. Credit: Photo by Ed Feingersh\/Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"NEW](\"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2.-Marilyn-Monroes-Flying-Skirt-From-The-Seven-Year-Itch_Photo-by-Sam-Shaw\u00a9-Shaw-Family-ArchivesGetty-Images-500339540_1200-808x1024.jpg\")
Inside Hollywood\u2019s Golden Age of Celebrity Image-Making<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
From Norma Jeane to Marilyn: Constructing an Icon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Before The Influencers, There Was Marilyn Monroe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5.-Marilyn-Monroes-Beverly-Hills-Portrait-Sessions-Contact-Sheet_Photo-by-Earl-LeafMichael-Ochs-ArchivesGetty-Images-2211745520_1200-1024x819.jpg\")
Preserving History: A Deeper Look Inside Getty Images\u2019 Archives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Black-and-White Mythology of Marilyn Monroe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4.-Marilyn-Monroe_Color-Transparencies_Photo-by-Chris-Furlong-Getty-Images-1704162870_1200-1024x683.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
Why Young Audiences Still Crave Analog Images<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
An Enduring Icon Lives On in Photos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Photographer Daniel Norton speaks about inspiration leading up to Marilyn Monroe’s birthday:<\/h4>\n\n\n
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