Photo Deep Dive: Milton Greene Marlene Dietrich

Milton Greene image of Marlene Dietrich 1952

I love photography, but when I cannot be running around with my camera I like to look through my photography books. When I encounter an image I really like, I try to understand why it is that I like it. Then I want to understand more about the photographer and how they captured the image.

I thought I would share one of these Deep Dives with you. Here we have the famous Milton Greene, best known for his shots of Marlin Monroe. He was born in 1922, in New York and began taking pictures very young. He decided it was going to be his profession and he worked with Elliot Elisofen, a photojournalist. 

He established himself as a fashion photographer of the 1940's and 1950's. This is what I consider the golden era in American Fashion Photography. He was known for his portraits of famous people, and his method of taking them. He would get the subject to relax by playing music. For Marlene this was classical music and he served Sherry.

What draws me to this image is that the subject draws you in. There is little to lock onto aside from these amazing, bright legs. Your eye follows them up to her head, covered with hair leaving some mystery as to who this person really is. The soft, dark background contrasts with the object Marlene is sitting on, which is rough like a stone. Simple, black shoes complete the image and stand out against the grey background and the white of her legs. 

Her hand, the only other thing in the image, is slightly blurred from motion. I do not believe the hand really contributes anything aside from the gesture that she is caught in, almost as if she was running her hand along her leg. 

Here I have overlaid some blue lines in the rule of thirds. I believe this follows the Golden Spiral as well. I like the use of negative space and the play on the tones. 

The human eye is drawn to the brightest part of the picture, and here it is the white of her legs and blond hair. 

This is not a picture of detail, it is all about her legs. These legs were famously insured by Paramount Pictures as an excellent publicity stunt...with legs like those who needs more publicity?

Between the amazing composition, the mysterious lack of face, play on textures and tones, Milton nailed an amazing photo.

The small items I do not like of the image, how you can just see the bottom of her chin, I believe it would have been better if her hair covered her face completely. The little detail under the object she is sitting on is a bit distracting. I would have burned that in a bit.

An amazing shot, made by an magnificent photographer of a legendary entertainer.