The Seven Year Itch
Written by: George Chittenden : 14 May 2019
This iconic photo was taken on September 15th, 1954 for the film ‘The Seven Year Itch’. The photo features Marilyn Monroe whose white dress is blowing suggestively above her knees. The director of the film, Billy Wilder, was shooting a scene on Lexington Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Street in New York City when the famous image was captured. The man who took the photo was a close friend of Monroe, and his name was Sam Shaw.
The pair met years earlier whilst shooting the film Viva Zapata and remained friends. Sam was employed as the special still photographer for The Seven Year Itch, and wanted to use a picture from the movie theatre scene as the logo to promote the film. So where did the flying skirt idea come from? Well interestingly it was Sam’s idea, but it wasn’t the first time he’d used it. Years earlier he’d taken a cover image for Friday Magazine of a sailor and a young girl at Coney Island playing in a wind tunnel with her skirt rising suggestively and the magazine sold out immediately.
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