The Kennedys: Photographs by Mark Shaw

THE KENNEDYS PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK SHAW

Photographs by

Mark Shaw Edited by

Tony Nourmand Text by

Mark Shaw Additional Text by

Alison Elangasinghe Clint Hill Art Direction and Design by

Graham Marsh Layout by

Joakim Olsson

Contents Notes on the Photographs in this Book 12 Introduction 14

Nantucket Sound 24 Hyannis Port 38 Georgetown 70 Wheeling, West Virginia 110 Merrywood 132 Amalfi Coast 146 Washington D.C. 162 Inauguration Gala 176 The White House 190 Portraits 214 The Hike 234 Palm Beach 246 November 1963 262

Acknowledgements 287 Photo Credits and Bibliography 287

Mark Shaw: JFK’s Photographer Tony Nourmand

I first encountered Mark Shaw’s name in 2005 while working on a book on Audrey Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years (Boxtree, 2006).

Mark’s photographs, taken on the set of Sabrina (1953), were amongst the most natural I had seen of the gamine star. This informal and relaxed style of photography also struck me as being ahead of its time and was, I realised, one of the many reasons Mark became one of the most sought after names in fashion and editorial photography during the 1950s and 1960s. The New York Times made the following observation on his style: ‘He sought to achieve an easy, natural and unposed quality in his pictures.’ After this impressive introduction to Mark’s work, I made a point of actively seeking out his images of a particular celebrity for subsequent projects.

When I stumbled across Mark’s fashion photographs for the first time, they stopped me in my tracks. The first photographer allowed backstage at the couture shows in Paris, his colour photographs from this period are simply breathtaking and unlike anything I have ever seen. Likewise, the body of work he produced in the early 1950s for the renowned Vanity Fair lingerie campaign is landmark.

Having read various articles that mentioned Mark, I was aware that the sobriquet, ‘JFK’s photographer’ was always applied. While a few of his Kennedy photos were so ubiquitous that they were already familiar to me, it was not until I acquired a copy of Mark’s best-selling book from 1964, The John F. Kennedys: A Family Album, that I began to appreciate why such a moniker was so appropriate. When I was then introduced to the Mark Shaw Photographic Archive, run by Mark’s son, David Shaw, and his wife, Juliet Cuming, I was surprised to realise that the published photographs represented just a small portion of his Kennedy work. The wealth of material was exhilarating. Working through each file of negatives and prints for this book, we uncovered many photos that had never been seen, or printed from the original negative, before. Not only do they include some of the greatest photographs ever taken of the Kennedys as a family, but they also illustrate 14

the remarkable talent of the man behind the lens.

Mark Shaw was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1921. He was the only child of divorced parents. At the age of eight, he was given his first camera and developed an interest in photography. He also had a passion for planes and while studying industrial design at NYU and then engineering at Pratt Institute, trained with the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps of the US Air Force. His graduation happened on the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor and Mark immediately entered service as a fighter pilot overseas. He flew in several top-level missions, including the armada that took General MacArthur to Japan for the final surrender. He returned from the war a highly decorated hero.

Upon his return to civilian life, he joined the staff of Harper’s Bazaar as a photographer, working under the celebrated Alexey Brodovitch. He was soon working for other publications, including Mademoiselle and Ladies’ Home Journal. In 1952, he started work at Life and over the next sixteen years, he shot twenty-seven covers and over one hundred stories for the prestigious magazine.

This stylish man was always immaculately dressed and had a quiet and easy-going manner that put his subjects, from the rich and famous to Parisian models, at ease. As Mark himself commented, ‘People tend to freeze in front of the camera … I shoot a few frames and try not to move around too much … it makes the person less aware of the photographer. Mainly I try to … create an atmosphere of a friend taking their picture, rather than a photographer.’

The world’s most famous names relaxed in his presence, including Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Pablo Picasso, Brigitte Bardot and Pope Paul VI. It was through Life magazine that Mark first met the Kennedy family in 1959. Mark was assigned to shoot a cover story on the young senator from Massachusetts’ pretty, thirty-year-old wife, Jacqueline Kennedy. Entitled, ‘Jackie Kennedy: A Front Runner’s Appealing Wife,’ Mark photographed

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Nantucket Sound

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The John F. Kennedys at Hyannis Port. Late afternoon on the back lawn of Joseph Kennedy’s house. One was always aware of the three family houses facing the tree-covered street. In front, leaves on the ground; in back, the gently rolling lawn down to the Atlantic Ocean. I was most conscious of the flow of children – the area was aptly called the ‘Compound.’ Clothes were casual. Never the feeling of pressure or time. A strong bent for the active life and also an intense life of reading, discussion of current events, and general awareness.

Typically the family was together, always celebrating birthdays, parties, anniversaries, conscious of outdoor life, the beach and the air. Most afternoons were spent along the water, walking, talking and playing with the children. Everyone would dress for dinner and gather in the living room. The talk would be on politics and the arts, and to be uninformed in that group was a disaster. World history was attacked in the manner of an athletic contest. It was an adults’ world after dark. MS The pictures at Hyannis Port remain one of the most enduring and famous series that Mark shot. They include Kennedy’s favourite photograph of himself, walking alone on the dunes, which he liked to refer to as ‘The New Frontier’ shot. AE

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In a touching example of correspondence shared between friends, a letter from 1960 mentions Jackie’s hopes for an Italian getaway with Mark and his wife, the singer Pat Suzuki: ‘You are an angel to send those beautiful pictures – contacts – and Pat’s record – which I am playing tonight by myself – My Funny Valentine is on right now and I can tell you it is the worst possible music to answer campaign mail to … I just hope the days will come soon when we can all have a marvellous Portofino weekend and everything she and you remind me of – la dolce vita – can happen again! … every time I look at your pictures … I realize how incredible they are.’

The ‘dolce vita’ trip ultimately took place in 1962 in Ravello on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Mark’s personal snapshots capture the unguarded moments of those on board, including Jackie playing with camera, Pat Suzuki in pink bikini, Fiat magnate Giovanni Agnelli, his glamorous wife, Marella, and Jackie’s Secret Service Agent, Clint Hill.

The only factor detracting from the Italian idyll was a boat of press photographers that followed the group to such an extent that Jackie was often forced to hide below deck. Every time they stepped ashore, they were also mercilessly hounded by the Italian paparazzi. Mark convinced Jackie to engage with the photographers in a one-off photo call, which would allow them to enjoy the rest of their vacation (relatively) press free. The resulting excitement as the boat pulls in and the First Lady and Marella Agnelli take a stroll along the seafront was captured by Mark. AE

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Inauguration Gala

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