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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.
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