In October 1945, fashion photographer André de Dienes traveled across the American West with a nineteen-year-old model named Norma Jeane Dougherty. They left the confines of Los Angeles studios to shoot photographs in the open air of nature. At this point in her life, she was not yet Marilyn Monroe. She possessed a head of curly, reddish-brown hair and a face free of the heavy makeup that later defined her Hollywood career. De Dienes drove them through the changing landscapes of California, Nevada, and Oregon, stopping the car whenever the sunlight hit the scenery just right.
The wardrobe for this trip was entirely improvised and casual. Norma Jeane posed in oversized cable-knit sweaters, men’s flannel shirts, and rolled-up denim jeans. On the beaches of Malibu, she ran barefoot across the cold sand while the ocean breeze whipped her hair across her face. De Dienes encouraged this unpolished look. He avoided the stiff, frozen poses typical of 1940s fashion magazines. Instead, he instructed her to move constantly, capturing her mid-laugh or while she was climbing over desert rocks.
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De Dienes treated the sessions as acting exercises as much as photo shoots. He gave Norma Jeane abstract concepts to portray without using words. He asked her to look at the horizon and think about death, then immediately switch to thinking about the man she loved. She transitioned from deep, convincing sorrow to radiant joy in a split second. The camera captured these raw shifts in emotion close-up. He used only natural light, waiting for the “golden hour” at sunrise and sunset to give her skin a warm, glowing texture.
A deep romantic bond formed between the photographer and his muse during these weeks on the road. They were briefly engaged, and this personal intimacy translated directly onto the film. Norma Jeane looked into his lens with complete trust and comfort, removing the barrier between the subject and the observer. De Dienes documented their private conversations and the details of their relationship in secret memoirs. The resulting images from this trip filled a massive portfolio that proved Norma Jeane could command attention simply through her expression and energy, without the need for diamonds or studio sets.
