The World's Most Photographed
Marilyn Monroe
by Bert Stern, 1962
Photograph by Bert Stern © 1962
Past exhibition archive
6 July - 23 October 2005
Porter Gallery
Admission Free
In collaboration with the BBC
The World's Most Photographed exhibition accompanies a major BBC TWO ten part series, commencing on Wednesday 6 July at 7.30pm, and at the same time each subsequent Wednesday.
For the first time, the National Portrait Gallery and the BBC present an exhibition and series that have been jointly developed by the two organisations. The World's Most Photographed is an integrated project consisting of an exhibition of around 100 photographs and an accompanying BBC Two series exploring the lives and legends of ten well-known figures from history - Muhammad Ali, James Dean, Mahatma Gandhi, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn, Adolf Hitler, John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Queen Victoria.
By unearthing photographs which have previously been lost, suppressed and hidden, together with more familiar images, the exhibition and series explore the nature of celebrity and iconography, going beyond the often carefully constructed public image to reveal much more about their personalities and lives.
Publication
Special Offer Price £20 (Published price £25)
Featuring over 180 stunning photographs from Elvis Presley and Greta Garbo to James Dean and Muhammad Ali - this fascinating book is an in depth companion to the Gallery's popular exhibition and the current BBC TWO. The accessible text by Robin Muir, explores the wider issues of fame and representation, delving beyond the often carefully constructed public image to reveal much more about these high-profile personalities and their remarkable lives.
Highlights include:
Muhammad Ali The remarkable photographs that lay hidden in a drawer for 25 years
James Dean An extraordinary series of macabre photographs, unreleased for over 30 years
Greta Garbo Did she really "want to be alone"? Images of a star who turned away from the camera.
Audrey Hepburn How the deprivations of her war-torn childhood shaped her career as actress and prepared her for a far-reaching role with UNICEF
Marilyn Monroe How the first American goddess used photography to create a phenomenon, how a single image threatened to destroy her, and how for one day in New York, it showed her at her happiest
Elvis Presley How a schoolboy outwitted The King's controlling manager, scooped the world's press and sold his unique snaps of Elvis in the school canteen
Queen Victoria How photography played a vital role in defining her sovereignty and defending her against a rising tide of republicanism; how it re-established her supremacy after a decade of seclusion; and how she preserved the memory of Prince Albert in the years after his death
Mahatma Gandhi How he manipulated his appearance to bind his nation, how he used photography to challenge and undermine the British Empire and to create a new identity for India
Adolf Hitler How the Nazi dictator at first mistrusted photography greatly but then came to understand and utilise its power to project the image of a powerful leader and further his horrific plans for world domination
John F Kennedy How, in a new dawn for America, photography created and sustained the myths of 'Camelot' and concealed the President's frailties and infidelities
The exhibition is curated by Robin Muir, curator and writer on photography, and a former picture editor of British Vogue and the Sunday Telegraph Magazine.
Related portraits
- The Royal Family on the terrace of Osborne House (NPG P26)
- 'Four Generations' (King George V; Queen Victoria; King Edward VII; Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (King Edward VIII)) (NPG P232)
- Queen Victoria (NPG x46683)
- Greta Garbo (NPG x40991)
- Greta Garbo (NPG x40156)
- The Kennedy Family (NPG x45799)
- Audrey Hepburn (NPG x25145)
- Audrey Hepburn (NPG x40174)
Related sitters
- Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
- Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse
- Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
- Princess Beatrice of Battenberg
- King Edward VII
- Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (King Edward VIII)
- Greta Garbo (Greta Lovisa Gustafsson)
- King George V
- Kathleen Agnes Cavendish (née Kennedy), Marchioness of Hartington
- Princess Helena Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein
- Audrey Hepburn
- Edward Moore Kennedy
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy
- Joseph Patrick Kennedy
- Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr
- Robert Francis Kennedy
- Rose Elizabeth Kennedy (née Fitzgerald)
- Rosemary Kennedy
- Patricia Lawford (née Kennedy)
- Jean Ann Kennedy Smith
- Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, Duchess of Argyll
- Eunice Mary Shriver (née Kennedy)
- Queen Victoria
- Victoria, Empress of Germany and Queen of Prussia