Carrie Fisher, Beverly Hills, CA, 1974
If you were famous, chances are, acclaimed photographer Ellen Graham took your picture!
For over six decades, Graham has photographed actors, musicians, models, athletes, and royals at their most vulnerable: unplanned, unposed, and unscripted. Showing moments of intimacy and humor, and celebrating her remarkable ability to disarm her subjects, Graham’s photographs provide unique insight into a person.
Now that unique insight is on display at the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach.
The ‘Ellen Graham: Unscripted’ exhibition highlights several of Graham’s gifts to the Norton, along with a generous array of special loans from the Ellen Graham Archive.
“Photography changed my life. My love of photography inspired me to help the Norton with its mission to promote photography to others,” says Graham, who has a home in Palm Beach.
The exhibition draws from Graham’s portrait and street photography. With over 400 portrait subjects, Graham’s lens portrays some of the most iconic public figures of the 20th century, revealing an authenticity rarely seen in public.
David Bowie, Rehearsal, Los Angeles, CA, 1975
“This exhibition and the accompanying catalogue provide a contemporary reading of Graham’s photographs through the lens of ‘the unscripted,’ a concept that describes both her photographic style and process, in addition to the external forces that helped shape her career. Within the broader genre of portraiture, Graham’s photographs feature qualities that stretch beyond many of her contemporaries: a sense of immediacy, moments of intimacy and humor, and the remarkable ability to disarm her subjects,” said Lauren Richman, Ph.D., the Norton’s William and Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography.
Between the 1960s and 1990s, Graham’s work included icons like Andy Warhol, Sharon Tate, David Bowie, Gloria Swanson, Diana Vreeland, Carrie Fisher and Natalie Wood.
In addition to her work with celebrities, Graham’s street scenes from New York City, Paris, Havana, Los Angeles, Venice and Beverly Hills provide a glimpse into unseen moments of life. The exhibition reflects on Graham’s diverse experiences and encounters in both private and public spaces.
Joey Heatherton, Nantucket, MA, 1980 ELLEN GRAHAM/ COURTESY PHOTOS
Ellen Graham’s career, marked by collaborations with major U.S. magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, People, W Magazine, Time and Newsweek, has not only shaped her life but also contributed to the mission of the Norton Museum of Art in providing transformative cultural experiences through diverse collections and engaging exhibitions.
“The collection of photographs from Ellen Graham will engage and delight Museum visitors for years to come,” said Ghislain d’Humières, Kenneth C. Griffin Director and CEO of the Norton. “In addition to these works, two years ago, the museum was the recipient of a transformative gift from The Ellen and Ian Graham Foundation to establish a named endowment and name the museum’s third floor.”
Ellen Graham: Unscripted runs at The Norton Museum through June 16. For more information, call 561-832-5196 or go to norton.org.
Andy Warhol with Stuffed Dog, The Factory, New York, NY, 1974
Sharon Tate, Beverly Hills, CA, 1968
