On July 13th 1962, photographer George Barris created history. Yes, history because it was on the same day when he met style icon and Hollywood’s timeless beauty Marilyn Monroe on a beach in Santa Monica, California. He conducted a photo shoot with her and managed to capture her surreal beauty in 8 photographs. These precious photographs were going to be included in a photo-book which was to be titled Marilyn: Her Life In Her Own Words.
Little did he know that these would turn out to be the last photographs of Marilyn Monroe ever taken.
After just three weeks, Monroe was found dead in her apartment. After her tragic demise, a devastated Barris called off the book out of respect for her.

Last year, almost 53 years post her tragic death, those eight pictures of Marilyn’s day out at the beach were sold at an auction in Bloomsbury London.

Here are those mesmerising photos with some of her most kickass quotes:

#1 “Sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together.”

1
Lomography

#2 “Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.”

2
Lomography

#3 “If I’d observed all the rules I’d never have got anywhere.”

3
Lomography

#4 “Beneath the makeup and behind the smile I am just a girl who wishes for the world.”

4
Lomography

#5 “A girl doesn’t need anyone that doesn’t need her.”

5
Lomography

#6 “It’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”

6
Lomography

#7 “A career is wonderful, but you can’t curl up with it on a cold night.”

7
Lomography

#8 “If you can make a woman laugh, you can make her do anything.”

8
Lomography