In the summer of 1955, Marilyn Monroe lived in New York City. She had recently left Hollywood to study acting at the Actors Studio. She wanted to move away from the “dumb blonde” roles that studios gave her. She spent much of her time with intellectuals, poets, and writers. One of these friends was the poet Norman Rosten. Rosten lived on Long Island, and Monroe often visited him and his wife, Hedda. During one of these visits, the photojournalist Eve Arnold came to pick Monroe up. Arnold was a member of Magnum Photos and a pioneer for women in her field. She had worked with Monroe before and understood how the actress liked to be seen.
When Arnold arrived at the house, she asked Monroe what she was doing to pass the time. Arnold wanted to find a way to capture Monroe’s true personality. Monroe pointed to a book she kept in her car. It was a copy of Ulysses by the Irish author James Joyce. This book is famous for being one of the most difficult novels to read in the English language. It uses a style called stream of consciousness. The copy Monroe owned was worn and showed signs of heavy use. The edges of the pages were frayed. Monroe told Arnold that she had been reading the book for a long time. She explained that she could not read it from beginning to end in a straight line. Instead, she opened it to random pages and read small sections at a time.
Monroe told Arnold that she loved the sound of the words. She often read the sentences out loud to herself. This helped her try to understand the complicated meaning of the text. She admitted that she found the book to be very “hard going.” She did not pretend to understand everything in the novel. She was genuinely interested in the rhythm of the writing. This interest in literature was a real part of her life. After her death, experts cataloged her personal library. It contained over 400 books. Her collection included works by William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Stephen Crane. She also owned books on gardening, art, and religion.
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The two women drove to a local playground in a small town on Long Island. This was not a professional studio with lights and backdrops. It was a public space with children’s play equipment. Arnold needed to stop the car because she had run out of film. She had to sit in the car and load a new roll into her camera. While Arnold worked with the camera equipment, Monroe got out of the car. She carried her copy of Ulysses with her. She walked over to a metal slide and sat down on the ground at the bottom of it. She opened the book and began to read while she waited for Arnold to finish.
Arnold looked up and saw Monroe focused on the book. The actress was not looking at the camera or posing for a magazine cover. She was dressed in a simple summer outfit with a patterned top and short hair. The sun was bright, and the playground was quiet. Arnold realized that this was a perfect moment to capture. She grabbed her camera and began to take pictures of Monroe reading. Monroe did not stop reading or change her position. She remained absorbed in the text. This was a collaborative effort between the photographer and the subject. Monroe often provided her own ideas for how she should be photographed. In this instance, her choice to read the book provided the inspiration.
The photograph showed a side of Monroe that the public rarely saw. In her movies, she played characters who were often flighty or unintelligent. In real life, she was a dedicated student of her craft. She studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio to improve her emotional range. Strasberg encouraged his students to read widely and understand human psychology. Monroe took this advice seriously. She wanted to be respected as a serious artist. The photo at the playground provided visual proof of her intellectual side. It stood in contrast to the glamorous shots taken on movie sets in Hollywood.
The playground itself was a typical 1950s park. It had simple equipment made of wood and metal. There were no safety mats or plastic structures. The setting was very ordinary, which made the presence of a global movie star even more striking. Monroe looked like any other person enjoying a quiet afternoon in the sun. The fact that she chose to read Ulysses in such a common place made the image stand out. Many people at the time believed that Monroe was only a product of the movie studios. They thought her personality was created by publicists. This photo suggested that she had a private life full of complex thoughts and interests.
