New York magazine has a great article and segments on how Lindsay Lohan redid Marilyn Monroe’s “The Last Sitting”. If you have no idea who Marilyn Monroe is then you should go educate yourself as she is quite important to photography. She quite possibly could be considered the mother of pin up photography and gave birth to a whole genre of photographers. Both Monroe and Lohan have an undeniable pull that draws in the audience, whether it be on film or in person.The photographer that originally shot Monroe’s “The Last Sitting”, Bert Stern apparently decided to redo his famous shoot of Monroe utilizing a contemporary counterpart in Lohan. His final session with Monroe before her death in 1962 produced some of the most well known, and to some the best, shots Marilyn ever took. Obviously Monroe had the looks for pin up photography, but what made her shots stand out was her ability to strike facial expressions that truly enraptured entire generations of men and women alike.

So what does this mean for you, the aspiring home photographer? It means keep at it. We may not be constantly working with the likes of a Lohan or Monroe, but we can certainly strive to produce delicious works like Bert Stern. If you take a look at the shots of Monroe, or Lohan for that matter, there is nothing overly lavish about the set ups or backdrops. Nothing outrageous or ostentatious that detracts from the subject itself, only things that enhance the original beauty of the women themselves.

Too often I find that contemporary photographers are trying to out do the last photographer and introduce too many visual stimuli into a photograph. The simple approach is sometimes the best and usually has the most long lasting effect on an audience. Appreciate your subject as they are and accentuate the obvious. Something as simple as an elegant pair of shoes or a glamor outfit can make a photograph pop just as much as having an incredibly sophisticated background and props.

So go take a look at Bert Stern’s website, and the revisited photographs of Lindsay Lohan in “The Last Sitting”, then go shoot some simple but elegant portraits for yourself. Never let a day go by without shooting something you find interesting. Simple portraits like the ones of Lohan and Monroe can make your client just as happy as any air brushed over the top photo shoot.

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