Marilyn Monroe

This famous photograph comes from the series that ultimately launched Playboy magazine and propelled a 19-year-old redhead into international stardom. That woman would later become known as Marilyn Monroe.

The image was conceived and captured by photographer Tom Kelly in 1949, before the young Norma Jeane Mortenson dyed her hair blonde and changed her name. And certainly before she appeared in any films. At the time, she was a financially strapped housewife who was paid just $50 for the photo session, a sum she gladly accepted, along with signing away all rights to the images.

The shoot later became known as the Red Velvet Series. Marilyn Monroe had no idea that these photographs would one day appear so widely or change her life forever. Transforming her into one of the most recognizable blonde bombshells of all time.

But the story of how I came to own this unique and beautiful print is almost as intriguing as the story behind the original shoot.

At the time, I was a young, starving art student living in Pasadena, California. In my spare time, I loved wandering through the antique shops scattered throughout the area. One particular shop became a frequent destination because it carried antique cameras. Something I was always hunting for.

Whenever I visited the small shop, I would inevitably make my way to the back corner and admire a very special print hanging on the wall: this very photograph of Marilyn Monroe. I knew the image well and understood its value and historical significance. I had already seen limited-edition prints of it selling at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for $1,800. This was back in the 1980s.

One spring afternoon, while I was once again standing in that familiar corner admiring the print, the shop owner spoke up.

“I notice that every time you come into the store, you go straight to that photograph on the wall. You must really like it.”  He was absolutely right. My admiration for the image was obvious.

Then he asked if I would like to purchase it.

My immediate thought was that he must be annoyed that I came into the shop so often, spent so much time in that corner, yet never actually bought anything.

To demonstrate my appreciation for the photograph, I began enthusiastically rambling off everything I knew about it: The camera that had likely been used, the lighting setup, the printing process, the historical context. In short, a full-blown photo-nerd monologue.

That’s when the shop owner casually mentioned that he was personal friends with the photographer and that he could ask Tom Kelly himself if he might be willing to sell the print at a discount.

I nearly jumped for joy.

“You know the photographer?” I exclaimed. “He’s famous! The image is famous! The whole series is famous!”

And that’s when the magic happened.

The shop owner, leaning casually against the counter, turned to another customer standing nearby. Looking him straight in the eye, he said:  “Well, what do you think, Tom? What kind of special deal can you make this young man?”

Standing less than twenty feet away from me—right there in the shop—was one of my all-time favorite photographers.

I was so stunned and nervous that the only thing I managed to say was, “Are you Tom Kelly? I’m so pleased to meet you.” Fortunately, he already knew I was an admirer from my earlier enthusiastic explanation.

That’s when he made me an incredible offer: I could purchase the print for only $200. It was an unbelievable deal. But even that was beyond my reach. When I explained that I didn’t have that much money, they suggested I put the print on layaway and simply pay $20 each time I visited the store. I was ecstatic. Opportunities like that don’t come along very often.

And that’s how I became the lucky owner of an original Marilyn Monroe print, signed by photographer Tom Kelly.

BUT THE STORY DOES NOT END THERE:

Since many people have asked—I did not meet Marilyn Monroe in person. She had long since passed away by that time.

After bringing the print back to my humble little shack, I sat staring at it for hours. Eventually, a troubling thought crept into my mind.

There was simply no way I had just purchased an $1,800 print—signed by the photographer himself—for only $200 through a casual back-room deal in a small antique shop. And the photographer just happened to be there at the exact moment I was?  I became convinced that I had been scammed.

So I wrote a polite but firmly worded letter to the shop owner explaining that I would like to return the print. I told him that I didn’t believe it could possibly be authentic. There was no way the photographer would have sold it so cheaply. The value had to be far greater than what I had paid, and I simply couldn’t afford to be taken advantage of.

A few days later, I received a special envelope.  It was from the photographer himself.

Inside the package was a certificate of authenticity, along with a personalized letter from Tom Kelly. He even included a time and date for a phone call. When we spoke, we ended up talking for nearly thirty minutes—a conversation I thoroughly enjoyed.

The print is absolutely genuine: an archival photograph signed by the photographer himself. And today, who knows what it might be worth?

What I do know is that I am incredibly proud to own it.

So what did I learn from this experience? What’s the moral of the story?

Perhaps it’s simply another reminder that the universe sometimes has a way of working in your favor when your focus is strong enough. Even if I never consciously told myself I would one day own that photograph, something kept drawing me back to it—again and again—until, somehow, it became mine.