Proud Central will be hosting an exhibition of Sam Shaw’s iconic photographs of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. This exhibition, showing at Proud Central between 30th April and 26th July, will be his first UK show to feature both actresses. Alongside the well-known photographs, some never-before-seen shots will also be on display. This exhibition has been specially put together for Proud
Galleries by the Sam Shaw Archive and will not be able to be viewed anywhere else after its time at Proud Central. The address is 32 John Adam Street, London. Admission is free.

Photo © Sam Shaw

Proud Galleries Press Release

PROUD GALLERIES presents:
Audrey & Marilyn
Exhibition runs from: 30th April 2009 to 26th July 2009

In celebration of Audrey Hepburn’s 80th birthday Proud Central presents the Sam Shaw Collection, a definitive look at the 20th Century’s foremost female icons – Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. Showing the most iconic photographs alongside never before seen shots, this exhibition will celebrate Hollywood’s leading ladies in a way rarely seen.

By bringing these two very different but equally stunning luminaries together Proud will explore what it means to be beautiful, shining a revealing light on the two women every girl seeks to emulate.

Known as one of Hollywood’s greatest photographers the late Sam Shaw is much revered for his iconic works, which includes the infamous Marilyn over the Subway grate shot. This exhibition has been specially put together for Proud Galleries by the Sam Shaw Archive and will not be able to be viewed anywhere else after its time at Proud Central, making it the most important collection of its time.

Background
SAM SHAW - Sam Shaw, born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and a life-long New Yorker, began his career doing photographs for Collier’s Magazine in the 1940’s but soon found that his interest lay more in documentary work than the staged studio shots he was asked to do. This desire to capture real life and real people came through in the pictures he made of New Orleans jazz musicians, sharecroppers and coal miners. By 1951 he had started working in the film industry as a special photographer and his work on The Seven Year Itch created the iconic image of Marilyn over the subway grate. He met and began working with her early in her career and continued to shoot her through most of her professional life.

Although he photographed practically every star in films he had a special way of capturing the spirit of his female subjects. He often liked to work without poses, make-up or glitz and encouraged them to have fun and improvise. In the 1960’s he evolved into a feature film producer starting with the Paul Newman film, Paris Blues. Even as a producer his first love was always photography. He remained the special photographer on the set and helped create the publicity campaign for all of his films. Sam Shaw also worked closely with John Cassevettes producing a series of films where the actors created their characters on screen through improvisation. Not only did Sam Shaw create some of classic Hollywood’s most celebrated images, but he was also a pioneer to a new artistic style and technique that paved the way for independent filmmaking.

PROUD GALLERIES - Proud Galleries Group was launched in autumn 1998 by Alex Proud to bring affordable high quality photography to a mainstream market. Based upon a formula of exhibiting accessible shows around popular themes such as music, fashion, film and sport, Proud Galleries instantly took the photography industry by storm. A series of landmark shows including ‘Destroy: The Sex Pistols’, ‘Rankin’s Nudes’, ‘The Rock n Roll Years’, ‘Underexposed’, ‘Rebel Life: Bob Marley’, ‘The Official Bob Dylan Show’ and ‘The Libertines’ attracted blanket media coverage and full-house, star-studded opening nights. With up to 10,000 paying customers per show, the galleries soon became the most popular private photographic gallery in Europe.

Proud Camden went on to house the At Proud Bar & Live Music Venue, coined ‘London’s best kept secret’ (Time Out Magazine) and hosted live performances by sought-after bands like Dirty Pretty Things, Supergrass, Graham Coxon, Amy Winehouse and secret gigs by Liam Gallagher, official fashion shows for London fashion Weeks and VIP parties for Paramount Pictures, Sony, the
MOBO awards and more.

Your Comments