In case you are new to this space, SOOJ means straight out of the journal. Unphotographable is s what I call the moments I try to capture with paper and pen when the camera fails me. Want to play along?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Another unphotographable moment:
Richard Avedon exhibit - SF MOMA
Three pretty girls, probably late teens, very casually dressed in jeans and t-shirts. All of them standing in slack-jawed wonder gazing at Avedon's portrait of Marilyn Monroe. After a few silent seconds, they all reach into their pockets and pull out cameras and cell phones. Trying to capture a little bit of Marilyn for their own lives, a little bit of her incredible glamour.
They don't know yet that they have a beauty all their own.
Photograph by Richard Avedon. I wish you could see it as I did. Huge - like eight feet by eight feet. Huge.
28 comments:
Ah, a great moment! I love these little snippets you pick up along the way in life. I will play along when something 'right' like this happens.
Gosh that portrait is stunning isn't it?
SF MOMA is one of the places I went to on my trip to San Fracisco.... My daughter was a little thing in a stroller then, my husband had already flown back home, but I was determined to find my way over there and enjoy the art.
You captured the moment splendidly! I can just see the girls standing there clicking away.... Lovely thought that they have their own beauty, too. It's hard for girls that age to always see that.
One day they will know. I love MM, so this was indeed a joy for me today.
Well, that just made me choke up a bit. If only I knew then what I know now :)
For you Marilyn lovers- I have a site for you. It has the F-word in the title but the rest of the site is clean (just wanted to give you a heads up)
http://tinyurl.com/qym7wx
a beautiful observation
Y E S ...such a true statement...love this sooj!
i love these journal entries of yours.
young girls - they really don't know their beauty do they?
Richard Avedon indeed took amazing pictures of Marilyn. I would love to visit the exhibit. Wish I had one of his photos, but I do have a lifesized cut out of Marilyn that moves around my house and is always there for my birthdays.
Yes, please plan on tea the next time you are in Portland. I would love to sit and laugh with you and sip tea. Good thing it is not this week, it is took hot for hot tea; but drinking plenty of ice tea.
I've lived in the bay area all my life, and have never made it to SF Moma... truly sad, though I mean to correct that for it is calendared to be done this year - yay!
Thank you for such a lovely, genuine observation.
Well-wishes,
Me
Beautiful, beautiful post. And Avedon's photo is amazing--so beautiful and melancholy, really. I'd love to see it 8x8 feet as you did.
You are like a beacon on the bay, showering light on a shadowed world,
Thank you my friend,
For it all,
Love to you Beautiful one,
Maithri
So astute. Will they ever know?
It is funny what one perceives. I actually knew Avedon..and he made you feel as beautiful as his photographs portrayed you...
I don't remember who told me the story behind this particular photo, but it seems that Marilyn was doing a lot of "pose"y looks and Avedon finally told her to just stop and be still and this is what he got.
I think this really reflects MM's inner self. There is an interview of her with Edward R. Murrow that shows her in this same, melancholy way.
The sheer scale of the images makes them so powerful. I'm glad we had a chance to see them together!
my eyes are open, my pen and paper awaits the next unphotographable :) this one is a real keeper! every girl/woman can relate to this from at least one period of time in their lives!! to my mind the best would have been for me to capture you watching them watching her and you writing it down :)
OX
Absolutely right, Relyn, but i guess it takes some time for us girls to realize we all have beauty of our own, while we admire other glamorous beauties like Marilyn. I love his portrait of her. She looks so natural in a way, a bit fragile may be...
waiting for your next unphotographable moment !
:-)
LOVE IT...
SOOJ is an amazing thing....now if only I wrote in a journal, I could play too !
Such a sweet observation of those young girls, Relyn...One day they will know, hopefully...I hope so! This portrait of Marylin is lovely. We all have our own beauty... Sometimes it takes us a while to know it, own it and give it. Inner beauty as well as outer beauty. :o) SOOJ--love that! Happy Day ((HUGS))
I remember being that girl once and around the same time Gup (my best friend's aunt) told me the secret...you know, that some day you'll realize you are just beautiful the way your are. I love these snippets from your journals.
I love this! What a story. MM~ so beautiful, inside and out.
: )
Relyn~ Love your photgraphy through words! A lovely vision. Thanks for sharing!
Kirsten
The whole "unphotographable" moments idea is wonderful.
This MM is very soft, and natural. Much better than some of the "posey" shots we are more familiar with of her.
xo
Love it and sooo very true!!!! Happy weekend~
Did any of us know it at that age? Sigh. Life would be so much simpler if we did.
they say a picture is worth a thousand words, yet you capture in a few poetic words something a picture never could...im loving SOOJ entries!!! precious wishes
Captured Perfectly - I totally see it! <3 me
are you people watching again? :)
lovely post.
Oh, that face. It captures all the internal pain and sadness and melancholy I think of when Marilyn Monroe comes to mind. All masked in this beautiful face with flying skirts, high heels and breathiness. Yet beneath... I loved your narrative of the girls. You captured it to a tea.
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