Douglas Kirkland

Douglas Kirkland (1934-2022) was born in Toronto Canada. He joined Look Magazine in his early twenties and became famous for his 1961 photos of Marilyn Monroe taken for Look's 25th anniversary issue. He later joined Life Magazine during the golden age of 60’s/70’s photojournalism. Among his assignments were essays on Greece, Lebanon and Japan as well as fashion and celebrity work, photographing Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlene Dietrich among others.

Through the years, Douglas Kirkland worked on the sets of over one hundred motion pictures. Among them, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, “2001 A Space Odyssey”, "Sound of Music", “Out of Africa”, “Titanic” “Moulin Rouge”, "Australia" and “The Great Gatsby” Baz Luhrmann’s film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire.

In 1995 Kirkland received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American motion pictures Society of Operating Cameramen.

Some of his books are “Light Years”, “Icons”, “Legends”, “Body Stories”, “An Evening With Marilyn”, the best-selling “James Cameron’s Titanic”, “Freeze Frame”, a decade by decade look behind the scenes from 50 years photographing the entertainment industry and “Coco Chanel, Three Weeks”. “Michael Jackson - the Making of Thriller” and his most recent monograph "A Life in Pictures". 

Douglas Kirkland’s fine arts photography has been exhibited all over the world. His exhibition of Freeze Frame is now in the permanent collection of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills. His work is also in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian, the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra Australia, the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Eastman House in Rochester and the Houston Center for Photography and the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles. 

All images © Douglas Kirkland