Behind the Lens: Murray Garrett and Marilyn Monroe During Hollywood's Golden Age
By the early 1950s, Marilyn Monroe seemed to be everywhere.
One week she was promoting a new film at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The next she was attending an awards banquet, posing for magazine photographers at a movie premiere, or making an appearance at one of the countless publicity events that were as much a part of Hollywood as the films themselves. For studios, these appearances were carefully orchestrated opportunities to introduce their newest stars to the public through newspapers and magazines across America.
One of the photographers regularly assigned to those events was Murray Garrett.
Garrett wasn't some paparazzo following movie stars in hopes of selling candid photographs. He was one of Hollywood's most trusted photojournalists, working on assignment for publications including Life, Time, and Look, as well as studios and entertainment publications. His son later explained it this way:
"Murray loved to be where the action was and EVERY job Murray did he was sent to by a magazine or newspaper. He NEVER told anyone where he was going and was one if not the most trusted photographer in the business in Hollywood."
That trust earned Garrett a front-row seat to some of the defining moments of Hollywood's Golden Age.
Looking back decades later, Garrett admitted he didn't fully appreciate the historical record he was creating. Reflecting on his career later in life, he observed, "We all shot what we saw... As I now have reached the prime age of 88, I understand that what I saw was really something special. I did not understand that then. I just thought, 'Oh, that looks good.'"
That perspective makes this collection especially compelling.
The nineteen oversized Marilyn Monroe photographs Britannic Auctions offered in 2020 weren't repros churned out decades after the fact. They were printed by Murray Garrett himself from the original negatives he exposed during Marilyn Monroe's rise to stardom. Garrett also signed each print, creating a collection that represents an interesting category of Hollywood photography—later lifetime prints made by the original photographer from his own negatives.
They are authentic Murray Garrett photographs, yet they belong to a different category than vintage prints produced in the 1950s. Understanding that distinction helps explain why photographs made from the same negative can occupy very different places in the collector market.
Why Two Authentic Murray Garrett Photographs Can Have Very Different Values
One of the easiest mistakes to make in photography collecting is assuming that every photograph made from an original negative belongs in the same category.
It doesn't.
Unlike a painting, a photographic negative can produce prints over many years, sometimes over many decades. The negative is original, but each print has its own history. When it was made, why it was made, and even who printed it all become part of the story.
Collectors generally place the greatest emphasis on what are known as Type I photographs. These are first-generation prints made from the original negative within about two years of the moment the shutter was clicked. They were the photographs newspapers published, magazines reproduced, and studios filed away in publicity departments. Many still carry agency stamps, typed captions, editorial crop marks, or circulation notes on the reverse—evidence that they were working photographs before they became Hollywood collectibles.
The Marilyn Monroe photographs in this collection represent something a little different.
Rather than being printed in the early 1950s for editorial use, these photographs were printed many years later by the photographer himself from his original negatives.
In photography, these are generally described as later lifetime prints—prints made during the photographer's lifetime from the original negative after the vintage period had passed. Many photographers revisited their earlier negatives later in life, often creating printed exhibition photographs from images that had originally been intended for newspapers or magazines.
That distinction affects value, but it doesn't determine whether a photograph is collectible.
A vintage Type I print appeals to collectors because it is an artifact of its own era. It may be the very photograph that sat on a magazine editor's desk or passed through a studio publicity department in 1953. Its history is tied not only to the image, but to the physical object itself.
Garrett's later lifetime prints appeal for different reasons.
These were produced as presentation photographs rather than working press prints. Printed in generous sizes of up to approximately 17 by 22 inches, they allow Garrett's compositions to be appreciated in a way that an 8-by-10 newsroom photograph couldn't. The photographer also signed and numbered many of them, reflecting their purpose as limited-edition prints intended for collectors and display rather than publication.
Neither category replaces the other. They simply answer different collecting interests. Some collectors pursue the historical immediacy of vintage press photographs. Others enjoy owning a photograph personally printed and signed by the photographer, especially when it is large enough to frame and display as part of a collection.
Understanding that distinction is important, particularly for families who inherit Hollywood photographs. Hearing that a print is "not a Type I" doesn't mean it lacks authenticity or collector interest. More often, it means the market is evaluating a different kind of original photograph.
How the Market Values Marilyn Monroe Photography
The market for Murray Garrett's Marilyn Monroe photographs reflects the same principles found throughout vintage photography collecting.
A small original vintage gelatin silver print credited to Garrett sold for about $75 in 2017, while an original negative of Marilyn throwing out the ceremonial first pitch realized about $800 in 2021. Garrett's memoir, Hollywood Candid: A Photographer Remembers, has also become collectible in its own right, with copies selling for around $35 in 2025.
Those prices may seem to have little in common, but they illustrate an important point: collectors aren't simply buying a Marilyn Monroe image. They're evaluating exactly what the object is—a vintage print, a camera negative, a later lifetime print, or another piece of the photographer's legacy.
André de Dienes: The Early Marilyn
Few photographers are more closely associated with Monroe's early career than André de Dienes. A vintage silver gelatin print of one of his famous portraits of young Marilyn sold for just over $10,000 in 2009, demonstrating the strong demand for original prints by photographers whose work helped shape Marilyn's public image.
Milton H. Greene: Studio Masterpieces
Milton H. Greene's photographs often occupy the upper end of the Marilyn market. In 2026, a group of original color transparencies from his celebrated 1955 "Pekingese Dogs" sitting realized $7,500. As original camera transparencies from Greene's estate, they represent source material rather than ordinary photographic prints.
Bert Stern: The Last Sitting
Bert Stern's famous 1962 "The Last Sitting" photographs continue to attract collectors decades later. An oversized later print from that series, designated as an artist's proof, sold for just over $5,000 in 2019. Although not a vintage print from 1962, it demonstrates that later prints by the original photographer can have a strong collector following in their own right.
Do You Own Similar Hollywood Material?
If you've inherited a collection of Hollywood photographs, movie stills, publicity photos, celebrity autographs, or other entertainment memorabilia and aren't sure exactly what you have, Britannic Auctions would be happy to help. We regularly provide free evaluations for individuals and families considering whether to consign Hollywood material to a future auction.
Whether your collection includes Marilyn Monroe, another Golden Age movie star, or a mixture of studio photography and memorabilia, we'd be glad to take a look. Many collections arrive with little documentation, and helping owners understand what they have is often the first step in deciding what to do next.
Don't Miss the Next Hollywood Discovery
Collections like these don't appear every day, but they do continue to surface from estates and longtime private collections across the country.
If you collect Marilyn Monroe photographs, original movie stills, publicity photographs, or classic Hollywood memorabilia, consider joining Britannic Auctions' Hollywood collectors mailing list. Subscribers receive advance notice of upcoming auctions featuring fresh-to-market Hollywood material, giving them the opportunity to explore new discoveries before the auction begins.
