The Untold Story of the Famous Marilyn Monroe Skirt Blowing Photo
A photographer has revealed the little-known story behind the iconic image of Marilyn Monroe standing on a New York subway grate with the air from below lifting her skirt.
Photographer Sam Shaw, who died in 1999, took the famed windswept image of Monroe. He became a close friend of Monroe in the early 1950s, soon serving as her de facto personal photographer.
After Shaw’s death, his family uncovered a collection of previously unseen photographs and letters between him and Monroe. These are featured in the book Dear Marilyn: The Unseen Letters and Photographs.
According to a report by People, the book — published by ACC Art Books — reveals Shaw’s central role in creating the classic image photograph of Monroe on a subway grate as her white dress is blown upwards by a passing train.
While some fans assume the image was a direct still from Monroe’s film The Seven Year Itch (released in 1955), the photograph was actually Shaw’s idea, shot in New York. The image of Monroe used for the movie’s ads was later reshot in a Los Angeles studio by Shaw.
After reading the script for The Seven Year Itch, Shaw “knew that the scene of Marilyn on Lexington Avenue and 51st Street was the key moment for me to find an ad for the picture,” according to the book.
People reports that Shaw had photographed a similar pose more than a decade earlier at Coney Island’s Steeplechase Park, featuring a model and a sailor. He planned to recreate the concept on a larger scale when tasked with producing a key promotional image for The Seven Year Itch. Shaw requested that the studio organize extra police officers to manage the large crowd expected to gather to see Monroe as they shot the image.
“The production manager, John Graham, needed several days to set up the logistics — arranging permission to cordon off Lexington Avenue and 51st Street and for a technician to operate a wind machine under the spot where Marilyn would step on the grating,” Shaw explains. “The wind machine was to imitate a passing subway train to create the wind to blow her skirt.”
How The Image was Captured
On September 15, 1954, thousands of fans and press arrived to watch Monroe, but the situation remained under control.
“The police were completely off guard, more fascinated watching Marilyn, forgetting the mob,” Shaw wrote. “Not one person in the crowd broke through. They were too mesmerized by what they were seeing.”
He added that director Billy Wilder and producer Charles Feldman were testing the limits of censorship with the image, but Monroe’s elegance and playful approach made the scene both tasteful and daring for the early 1950s. Shaw photographed Monroe after the film crews had finished and also captured the man operating the wind machine beneath the grate.
“I had complete freedom to set up my shot. Marilyn loved posing for me in this sequence. When I got directly in front of her, she leaned forward and said, ‘Hi, Sam Spade.’ That was her nickname for me — a reference to Humphrey Bogart’s character in The Maltese Falcon,” Shaw recalled. “Marilyn enjoyed the whole experience more than anyone — even more than the man below at the wind machine.”
The image was syndicated the next day and became instantly famous across the world. However, the promotional stills used for The Seven Year Itch were recreated in a Los Angeles studio by Shaw. The close-ups were reshot under controlled lighting and wind to match the original New York shoot, with art directors Victor Sedlow and Herman Temple assisting in retouching.
“I was in charge of the still photos in the studio with precise studio conditions,” Shaw says. “We all decided that the concept of the blowing skirt shots were to be the ad — direct and simply laid out, no gimmick designs. Straight on.”
Shaw’s photographs of Monroe from both New York and Los Angeles remain among the most recognizable images of the actress — as well as one of the most iconic pop culture images of the 20th century.
Dear Marilyn: The Unseen Letters and Photographs is available to purchase online.
