One of the world's greatest photographers and one of the pioneering women of photojournalism, Eve Arnold, died on Wednesday the 4th January 2012 at the age of 99.
She travelled the world as a photojournalist, working mainly for Life Magazine and the Sunday Times.
Widely known for her photographs of Marilyn Monroe (whom she photographed extensively for 10 years) and other celebrities, Arnold just as often photographed the poor and the unknown. "I dont see anybody as either ordinary or extraordinary," she told the BBC in 1990. "I see them simply as people in front of my lens."
In 1995 she was elected a "Master Photographer", the world's most prestigious photographic honour, awarded by New York's International Center of Photography.
Her work has appeared in most major magazines such as Stern, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, Paris Match and Vogue.
Born Eve Cohen in Philadelphia on April 21, 1912, she was one of nine children of Ukranian immigrant parents. When she was 28 years old she gave up plans to become a doctor after a boyfriend gave her a camera. She studied photography for a brief time under Alexey Brodovitch, (celebrated art director at Harper's Bazaar) at the New School for Social Research before going out on her own and finding her style.
She didn't work in a studio and didn't light anything - she found a way of working which pleased her because she didnt have to frighten people with heavy equipment. It was the camera and her.
Whilst living in the UK, she photographed four Prime Ministers. Alec Douglas-Home carried her equipment
into the house; Ted Heath went swimming to evade her; and John Major gave
her a hug. Margaret Thatcher, who wanted to be photographed next to a heroic
sculpture of Churchill, was, recalled Eve Arnold, her most difficult
subject. She was also the only one who told her how to take her pictures.
Arnold published 15 books in her lifetime. In 2003 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elisabeth II, whom she had once photographed.
Eve Arnold with Marilyn Monroe in 1961 during the filming of The Misfits.
