A Stylish Eye

January 6, 2021 by Donna from MyOBT 6 Comments

Today, we’re looking at the memorable photos by iconic 50s and 60s fashion, celebrity, and portrait photographer Mark Shaw. Though he is best known as the John F. Kennedy family’s unofficial photographer, as a staff photographer for LIFE Magazine, he also shot 27 memorable covers and more than 100 stories.

In addition to his portraiture, Shaw was considered one of the major fashion photographers in the 50s and 60s, and he was responsible for many of the iconic advertising and editorial photos of the time. In particular, I’m in love with his Dior photos, which were published in the 2013 book, Dior, Glamour, Mark Shaw. The book showcases the wonderful images of Dior Fashions that Mark Shaw photographed for LIFE between 1952 and 1962.

In the late sixties, Shaw was working nearly constantly, and the pace had started to catch up with him. He started getting “vitamin shots” from the now-infamous Dr. Max Jackson, who administered injections to a roster of famous clients (including JFK). The shots consisted of multivitamins, steroids, animal organ cells, hormones, placenta, bone marrow, and high doses of amphetamines. Mark Shaw’s untimely amphetamine-related death in 1969 at the age of 47 raised the first questions about Dr. Jackson’s highly-addictive shots, and ultimately led to the loss of Jackson’s medical license.

You can see more of Mark Shaw’s amazing images on his son’s Mark Shaw Photographic Archive website and on Instagram, Facebook, and Vimeo.