Empathy can only bring positive results when collaborating with others, and the photographer who sees beyond the surface is the one who stands out.
Eve Arnold began her career as a photographer in the 50s, she endured a long lasting career that covered more than 40 years. A founding member of Magnum Photos alongside Robert Capa, Henri Cartier Bresson, Werner Bishop and David Seymour; Eve Arnold had the ability to earn the trust of people she photographed, ranging from iconic movie legends to migrant workers. I highly recommend visiting her bio page and portfolio in Magnum’s website: Magnumphotos.com
A few things I’d like to point out is that aside from her being a proficient photographer both in black and white and color, she also wrote articles to contextualize her work, reflecting on her thorough research and image-making process. Reading about Eve Arnold I also learned that in her formative years as a photographer; the design of a picture was very important to her, this is part was probably in response to the six week course she took with editorial designer Alexey Brodovitch. Years later, as she was becoming a stablished photographer she would learn from the work of Robert capa was that what mattered in most cases was the the essence of the picture, and not necessarily its form.That’s what impresses me most about her portfolio, how she was able to reflect a sense of intimacy in some of her most acclaimed photographs.
Being empathic led her to build relationships with those people she photographed, such was the case with Marilyn Monrroe, who she photographed for a period of five years.
“She (Marilyn Monroe) would call me whenever she had something she wanted me to do, that she felt I could do for her”.-Eve Arnold
Here’s a collection of photos I can’t remember seeing before, it shows Marilyn Monroe wrapped in a green beach towel, she seems unguarded, as the type of pictures only a friend would take.
