Photographer Douglas Kirkland has died at age 88 on October 2. Known as ‘Hollywood’s favourite photographer’, Kirkland photographed start like Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Coco Chanel, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Andy Warhol and more.
Douglas Kirkland’s photos of Marilyn Monroe in 1961 kicked off his career. Following this, Kirkland would go on to work at Life Magazine during the golden age of 60s and 70s photojournalism.
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Douglas Kirkland also worked in the motion picture industry, capturing actors and directors in their element. Kirkland took photos for over 100 films shot in the 20th and 21st centuries. This includes iconic films like The Sound of Music, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Titanic (His book Titanic from 1998 became the first ever photography book to reach number one on the New York Times Best Seller list).
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Readers keen on viewing Douglas Kirkland’s fine art photography will be happy to discover that he posted and re-posted some of his older work regularly on his Instagram account. Alternatively, his work can also be found at The National Portrait Gallery in both London and Canberra, Australia, the Smithsonian, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Eastman House in Rochester, the Houston Center for Photography and the Annenberg Space for Photography.
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Douglas Kirkland described how he was able to get the personalities of his subjects to shine through: ‘I have a genuine philosophy. I do not want to make negative pictures about people, and so I do everything I can to help make them feel comfortable in front of the camera. That is what is going to control your picture, because you are alone if your subject is not with you. And that’s the simple answer to getting a good picture.’
Featured image credit: Courtesy of Kirkland family.
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