“I was photographed to death,” Marlene Dietrich replied at the time to interviewer and actor colleague Maximilian Schell. The conversation, published in 1983 in the weekly Die Zeit, is famous not only for that oft-quoted line. Even though probably no one counted the photos, it is clear that her face became an icon of the 20th century.
The current exhibition dedicated to American photographer Eve Arnold, hosted by Galerie f3 – freiraum für fotografie in Berlin-Kreuzberg (on view through March 1, 2026), also features portraits of Marlene Dietrich. Arnold’s prominent place in the photographical history of the 20th century is surely secure and, in passing, it underscores the welcome, markedly high proportion of women in the art of photography.
Eve Arnold was born in 1912 in Philadelphia and died at the age of 99 in London. Her specialty was portraiture and documentary work, including photos that themselves became icons, such as the image of a woman in a swimsuit at the beach who, in her fullness, gazes back at the camera as if challenging it like a battle-ready sumo wrestler.
Close proximity between the photographer and those photographed
As if Arnold were somehow wryly answering Marlene Dietrich’s line — a remark she could not have known about at the time, since it would not become famous for another thirty years — she presents us with a photograph of Dietrich’s back. In 1952 Arnold had snapped a studio photo of the movie icon from behind during a work session. We do not see the face, yet we see Marlene Dietrich and her elegantly tailored silhouette in flawless beauty.
From a slant, we glimpse crossed legs, an elbow resting on a thigh, and a hand propping up the head. We see the blonde, softly waved hair. All together, a gently curving line. A masterful portrait — no doubt about it — a brilliant portrait without a face. And even if it was staged, it remains magnificent; we can assume it was a lucky snapshot, the right moment captured by chance.
Usually, the photographer looked straight into the faces of the people she photographed, and did so in a manner that was unusually intimate — and those subjects were by no means only stars. There are probably few more beautiful Marilyn Monroe photographs than the many series Arnold captured. What makes them special is the photographer’s closeness to the person Norma Jeane Baker, Marilyn’s given name, in a sense of empathy and compassion. The show’s title, “Capturing Compassion,” certainly highlights a central aspect of Arnold’s approach. The trust between photographer and subject transforms the photographed person from object into a portrait of her personality and integrity.
Unvarnished openness
The exhibition features numerous photographs taken during the shooting of the film “The Misfits” (German: “Nicht gesellschaftsfähig”). Directed by John Huston, the film stars Marilyn along with Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift in leading roles. The screenplay was written by the playwright Arthur Miller, who had been Marilyn’s husband since 1956. The film could have marked an artistic turning point, but in the end it remained only a possibility—an unrealized path.
The 1961 release presented Marilyn Monroe as a markedly different actress — from the naive blonde, she had, so to speak, overnight become a character actress. Her early death in 1962 left unanswered the question of whether her career would have continued in that direction. The next, unfinished film, by contrast, would have likely been another conventional comedy.
As mentioned, what makes the photos remarkable is this unforced openness, this lack of pretension. Such proximity certainly requires a high degree of trust. In a 1955 shot Marilyn holds an open book in her hands. And what is she reading? “Ulysses” by James Joyce. It is hard to say whether this was staged as a joke, because surely anyone who knows Joyce’s novel would not connect it with Marilyn, nor credit her with such reading. This reveals, above all, our deep-seated prejudices and the unstoppable appeal of stereotypes.
Great documentary work
As noted, Eve Arnold photographed not only stars, but a great many of them: Joan Crawford, who is pictured talking on the phone wearing only a corset, bra, and a large hat. Or the incomparable Simone Signoret or Aimée Anouk, contemplative in a car with the door open, waiting for whatever may come. And many more. Arnold also pursued documentary projects, such as a photo essay on Harlem fashion from 1956, born in New York as a Black-led protest against the white-dominated fashion industry.
In addition, we see images of Black aristocracy in the United States—ladies in fur and adorned with exquisite hats. By the late 1960s the slogan “Black is beautiful” entered popular culture, introduced by singer and musician James Brown (“Say it Loud! Black and Proud”). We glimpse actress Cicely Tyson, who helped popularize the Afro look. The show also features historically significant photographs of the Black Muslim movement of the 1960s, with Malcolm X at its center. And Arnold did not miss, in 1965, photographing a lesbian wedding in Britain.
The exhibition is undeniably worth seeing and makes for a wonderful complement to the Diane Arbus retrospective currently on view at Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau until January 18. Two photographers, each with a vast palette of expressive possibilities, demonstrating how photography records and speaks about history as it unfolds in visual form.
