Bert Stern

Hi everyone, sorry I have been absent for a while, I went on holiday to Jordan for a week and have had a horrible cough since I got back, but I am on the mend and have been out on Dubai's art scene visiting galleries! 

Yesterday I visited an exhibition of Bert Stern's photography from his shoot of Marilyn Monroe, famously called 'The Last Sitting'. The photographs are enhanced with fresh water pearls, gold and silver flakes, and semi-precious stones, and of course Swarovski crystals.  As some of you may know, I take Photography as an A-Level, and I really love it, so I jumped at the chance to see a combination of my favourite things, Photography, Art Exhibitions and Marilyn! The exhibition contains 12 prints from 'The Last Sitting' on canvas and paper, and when combined with these stones, a completely new twist is added to the photographs, adding depth and energy, and bringing out the true fabulosity of Marilyn. (Although I do have to say that one of my favourites from the exhibition was without the added crystals).

There is a complete diverse range of photographs of Marilyn here, truly exposing her complete personality, all of these photographs are shown in a book that is displayed on the front desk, with photos ranging from utter movie-star lavishness, where Marilyn is surrounded by furs, diamonds and pearls, to the fragility of her true self that can be seen in some of the more modest images where she is seen wearing a long black dress, which is contrasted by the sexuality she oozes when using a barely-there chiffon scarf to cover herself. 

      

The photos above were without any additions- one of the objectives of Bert Stern's shoot was to take a black and white photo of Marilyn that would have been as memorable as the one Edward Steichen took of Greta Garbo, and I think he really fulfilled that with these four photographs, I absolutely love them.

This image was enhanced with silver flakes- I thought it was absolutely beautiful, I love the angle, the netting and the soft white tones in this photo.

Diamonds are a Girl's Best-friend  This one had Swarovski crystals and fresh water pears stuck onto it- definitely another of my favourites.

Information about Stern's work and a catalogue of the images shown at the gallery.

If any of you are interested in visiting the exhibition, it's open until 18 April, and is located near Al Serkal Avenue (where all the quirky art galleries are), I loved it! :)