Ed Feingersh (aka Edwin, Eddie, or Edward) is another on the long list of photographers who became famous for their pictures of Marilyn Monroe.

The difference between dear Ed and the rest of them is that he, like Marilyn, was plagued by self-consciousness and self-doubt. This bond over mutually poor mental health conditions resulted in some of the best pictures of Marilyn ever. 

Marilyn once said that “When photographers come it’s like looking in a mirror, they think they arrange me to suit themselves, but I use them. It’s necessary in the movie business. But I often hate it. I’d never show it though. It could ruin me. I need their goodwill. I’m not stupid.” So she let Bert Stern, Alfred Eisenstaedt and all the others believe that they were in charge so that she could maintain her image. Ed was a horse of a different color though. He and Marilyn blended their neuroses together to make some actually honest portrayals of the actress, which was v rare and v cool.

The Redbook Magazine editor at the time, Robert Stein explained the similarities between Marilyn and Ed: “They both were somehow more directly connected to life than the rest of us, and more vulnerable. Like Marilyn, Eddie was given to self-parody to mask the pain of being defenseless against daily living and, like her, desperate to make full use of the gifts such an open nature provides.” They both obsessed over their image, Marilyn in the form of her clothing, makeup and how she was portrayed by the press and Ed in the form of the printing and developing of his pictures. They were, as they say, birds of a feather.

So because of his rather unsteady psychological state, Ed was ideal for the debut of Marilyn’s new vibe in 1955. He “was not interested in creating illusions” like so many other photographers in the past, and therefore was the perfect photographer when Marilyn bailed on Hollywood and her Twentieth Century Fox contract and escaped to New York in a fit of rebellion. Feingersh photographed her on the subway for the first time (she had never been on it before for fear of getting swarmed) and perusing New York with (gasp!) no makeup on.

After this brief stint in New York, Marilyn and Ed never worked together again but died a year apart from each other, each one completely alone.