Eve Arnold, Marilyn Monroe and Iconic Images

When photographer Eve Arnold (1912-2012) died at age 99, she left a legacy of iconic images of postwar 20th century. Quoting her obit in the New York Times, Arnold photographed "images of subjects as diverse as Marilyn Monroe and migratory potato pickers." Diverse indeed.

In the golden era of photojournalism reflected by magazines such as LIFE and LOOK, Arnold was a star photographer. Arnold gained the trust of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford, and Marlene Dietrich. This sense of trust allowed Arnold to photograph them at their most relaxed.

Ms. Arnold's life was filled with kudos. She wrote several pictorial books of her photographic experiences, received world-wide recognition and even received the OBE (Order of the British Empire).

Below are some of her iconic images. Do you recognize any of them?

When the Bells Tolled for Her

Her life was short. She was 26 when she died and she was buried days later on her 27th birthday. Yet she live long enough to make her mark on photojournalism - as the first woman to cover a war and die while doing so.

It was 1936 and Gerda Taro (nee Gerta Pohorylle; 1910-1937), was a photo assistant to Robert Capa (nee Endre Ernő Friedmann; 1913-1954), a photographer and photojournalist best known for his photos on the front lines of war zones.

Taro was a German Jewess. She knew about fascism first-hand. She opposed the Nazi party in Germany and was arrested for distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets. After her release, the family left Germany.

When the Spanish Civil War broke out, she went with Capa to cover the anti-fascists soldiers. It was there that she established herself as a war photographer. Below are some of her photos at Navacerrada Pass, Segovia front, Spain:



(This failed offensive was the basis for Ernest Hemingway's, "For Whom the Bells Tolled.")

A year later, Taro would be killed in a freak war accident. Her fame was such that LIFE magazine printed two full pages about her.