THIS IS ONE COOL DUDE. You may not know him, but his photos are legendary.
During the transformative 1960s, Lawrence Schiller captured the nation’s political and cultural front lines: whenever a headline-making event occurred, he was there.
At The Modernism Home Show at the Palm Springs Convention Center this past weekend we saw a lot of eye candy every which way we looked. Including an original art piece of …. candy. 
However wonderful all the latest furniture, knick knacks, art and jewelry were (photos to follow), my highlight was meeting a man whose work I’ve admired throughout the years. None other than renowned photographer, Lawrence Schiller.
And what a pleasure it was.
Meeting him brought up a memory of when I was a teenager living at home and my brother at the time was very Marilyn Monroe obsessed. I forgot that I had gifted Brad Schiller’s book “Marilyn & Me” and there before my eyes was the very book, along with his new book entitled “Lawrence Schiller Photographs.” Such a déjà vu. Can you imagine the stories this man has?
“I knew Marilyn over a two-year period. I met her first on a movie called ‘Let’s Make Love.’ I photographed her at that time on and off through the time of her death. I was 22 years old and she was 34 or 35.” Schiller is 88 years old now.
“You’re already famous, now you’re going to make me famous,” photographer Lawrence Schiller said to Marilyn Monroe as they discussed the photos he was about to shoot of her. “Don’t be so cocky,” Marilyn replied, “photographers can be easily replaced.” She was wrong!
From Marilyn Monroe in the nude to Muhammad Ali in the boxing ring, Schiller’s work features legendary moments, including Paul Newman and Robert Redford playing ping-pong, and a haunting image of Lee Harvey Oswald after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He documents the powerful advocacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, alongside the private world of LSD experimentation.
“MARILYN & ME” is– an intimate story of a legend before her fall and a young photographer on his way up. 
The year was 1962, and Schiller, 25, was on assignment for Paris Match magazine. He already knew Marilyn—they had met on the set of Let’s Make Love—but nothing could have prepared him for the day she appeared nude in the motion picture Something’s Got to Give. Schiller’s extraordinary photographs and vibrant storytelling take us back to that time with tact, humor, and compassion. With more than 100 images, including rare outtakes from the set of Marilyn’s last film, the result is a real and unexpected portrait that captures the star in the midst of her final months.
Photos: d. king (of Schiller’s photos; obviously).
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