Opening on 1st July, ‘To Know About Women: The Photography of Eve Arnold’ is the UK’s first major retrospective of the pioneering 20th century photographer in ten years. Exploring themes of social injustice, civil rights, religion, power, fame, sexuality and birth, the summer long exhibition will open at Newlands House Gallery, in the town of Petworth, West Sussex. 

Born in Philadelphia in 1912, Arnold became one of the most revered photojournalists and was entrusted as the go-to portraitist for some of the world’s most famous figures, including Marlene Dietrich, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy and Queen Elizabeth II. Headhunted by Magnum in 1951, Arnold became Marilyn Monroe’s photographer of choice for over a decade. She photographed Monroe extensively on the set of The Misfits as well as in more mundane, everyday settings chosen by Arnold herself.  

In 1950, having spent several years working at a Kodak processing factory in New Jersey, Arnold developed an interest in photography. Encouraged by her nanny, she signed up to a six-week photography course in Manhattan led by Harper’s Bazaar’s influential Art Director, Alexey Brodovitch. Under his mentorship, Arnold ventured into the world of fashion and documented the shows held in Harlem every Sunday.  Photos from this essay were published in British magazine Picture Post in the 1950s and, not long after, she became the first American female photographer to be signed by Magnum, aged 45. 

Subjects throughout her career were diverse; from a same-sex couple wedding to migrant potato pickers on Long Island, New York and the first minutes of a baby’s life. Above all, she was drawn to women and children and she also spent several months traversing China’s hinterland, which led to her first major solo show exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in 1980. In the same year, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Magazine Photographers.  In later years, she received many other honours and awards. In 1995, she was made fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and elected Master Photographer – the world’s most prestigious photographic honour – by New York’s International Center of Photography. In 1996, she received the Kraszna-Krausz Book Award for In Retrospect. The following year she was granted honorary degrees by the University of St Andrews, Staffordshire University, and the American International University in London; she was also appointed to the advisory committee of the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in Bradford, UK. She has had twelve books published.

Eve passed away in January of 2012.

‘Eve Arnold was a pioneer photographer. She changed fashion photography and helped define photojournalism alongside the forefathers of the medium. Her photographs of Marilyn Monroe are perhaps her most recognisable images but, in this show, we wanted to focus on the photos she took during some of the defining moments of modern American and social history. Arnold’s empathy for her subjects and her intellect meant she knew how to be in the right place, at the right time, and with a camera in her hand.’ – Maya Binkin, exhibition curator at Newlands House Artistic Director.  

Photography credit

© Eve Arnold Estate
Marilyn Monroe resting between takes during a photographic studio session in Hollywood, for the making of the film "The Misfits". 1960.

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