The 60s: psychedelics, radicals, peace, love, war and sex. This was an experimental time for the United States. Political turmoil filled the air, new types of music coursed through record players and life was constantly changing. “America in the 60s was a very turbulent time,” says Lawrence Schiller, a famed photographer of the era. “America had a ‘holier than thou’ attitude at the beginning [of the decade].”

            Schiller is known for his photos of the famous—people such as Robert Kennedy, Barbara Streisand, Robert Redford, Paul Newman, and, of course, Marilyn Monroe. An exhibition of his work can currently be found at Madrid’s Mondo Gallery, with Monroe capturing the limelight. He took portraits of her on two occasions—the first when she was 23 years old during the production of her 1960 movie Let’s Make Love, and then again two years later, during her work on Something’s Got to Give.

             “Marilyn was the first female actress I got to have a dialogue with,” he mentions with a smile, and adds that his interchanges with her were never dull. He recalls telling her, ‘You’re already famous, so you’ll make me famous if you take your clothes off’. Her response was blunt: ‘Don’t be so cocky or I’ll have to fire you!’

            It was during the famous pool scene in the filming of Something’s Got to Give when he took naked shots of her. No one expected it, but suddenly she removed the bikini that she was wearing. According to Schiller, “Marilyn, even when fully clothed, was a dream for a photographer. Without her clothes, even more so.” He remembers that night—the way her eyes shone, and her skin glistened.

            Although he had many conversations with Monroe, Schiller feels he never truly got to know her. “I don’t think you have a personal relationship with someone like Marilyn Monroe,” he smiles. She was elusive and very much a mystery woman. In Schiller’s opinion, few people knew her well.

            However, his photography gave him a different perspective. “My camera was like a sponge,” he says, describing the way he soaked up as much of her as he possibly could. He would ask himself, “How do I find the moment that I haven’t seen in person?” and his art would take form, although despite this approach, he never considered himself an ‘artist’. He clarifies by saying, “I was recording history. History is what’s made my pictures important.”

            To Schiller, Monroe was history. She represented cinema, and part of the United States entertainment business that was so prevalent during the 1960s. Through her charm and beauty, she significantly made her mark on US pop culture. In fact, Schiller was one of the last people to see her alive—he visited her home on the morning of the day she died, in order to for her to approve some photos. Due to Monroe’s wild success, Schiller competed with thousands of photographers to capture unique photos of this legend, a selection of which can now be seen in Madrid for the first time.