Andre De Dienes
Born in Transylvania in 1913, Andre De Dienes also lived in Tunisia and France before moving to America in 1938 with the assistance of Esquire magazine to work as a photographer. He had been involved in fashion photography in Paris since 1936. While living in New York he worked as a photographer in the fashion industry but also spent lots of time engaged in street photography. His work documenting life in Harlem is considered especially noteworthy. He moved to California in 1944 where he freelanced at several movie studios doing portraits of such legends as Elizabeth Taylor, Henry Fonda, Fred Astaire, Ingrid Bergman, Jane Russell, and Ronald Reagan. It was during this period that he came to focus on shooting nudes, mostly in grand, picturesque, outdoor settings. His work with the nude resulted in over twenty books published in the USA and Europe.

In 1945 De Dienes met with and started shooting a then unknown model named Norma Jean. She was nineteen years old and De Dienes was the first photographer she ever worked with. They ended up going on a month long road trip where Andre photographed her in California, New Mexico, and Nevada. The results were not only a love affair but also numerous magazine covers across the globe. Their professional collaboration continued until 1953. De Dienes' work with her is considered by many to be a priceless photostudy of the beautiful yet tragic figure that became Marilyn Monroe.

Andre De Dienes, one of the greatest photographers of the nude in the twentieth century, passed away in 1985.