Over at The Mmm Blog, Melinda Mason recounts her meeting with photographer Bert Stern – now 82 – at his ‘Jewels’ exhibition in Toronto’s Izzy Gallery.
“Marilyn fans the world over have fawned over Stern’s photographs that he took in July 1962 shortly before her death. Regardless of your view on whether he should have published photos that Marilyn herself had X’d out there is no denying his photographs are truly legendary. I am personally a big fan of this time period and Marilyn style and The Complete Last Sitting is one of my favourite books.”
Gallery owner Izzy Sulemanji was interviewed in Canada’s National Post:
“‘This is the top of the mountain to get Bert,’ Sulejmani says. ‘The biggest thing is that he’s coming, because if it’s not New York or a big museum, he doesn’t go for his openings.’
Now in his eighties, Stern rarely accepts interviews and makes few public appearances. But there was something about the friendly gallery owner that he liked. Sulejmani says that after remaining largely silent during a New York City business lunch two months ago, the photographer said at the very end, ‘You’re OK, Izzy. I like you. I’ll see you in Toronto.’ After signing the contract, Stern left.”