Marilyn Stafford - A Life in Photography

Weightlifter, Sidon, 1960.
‘On seeing this man flexing

his muscles, my thoughts
were that he represented
all of Lebanon’s politicians
flexing their political muscles.’

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Crusaders Sea Castle, built in 1228 on top of a Phoenician temple, Sidon, 1960.
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Fishing nets, Sidon waterfront, 1960.
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The Groom, wedding at Bekka Valley, 1960. The Bride, wedding at Bekka Valley, 1960.
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Bride on her ‘throne’,
Bekka Valley, 1960.

By tradition, the bride sits on
a raised platform all day at her
mother’s house, waiting for the

groom to collect her and her
trousseau. She is weeping because

she is leaving her family home.
Village women sing and dance to

cheer her up.

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Groom’s wedding guest with child, Bekka Valley, 1960.
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Bride’s wedding
guest, Bekka
Valley, 1960.

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108 Groom dancing, Bekka Valley, 1960.

Bedouin dancer, wedding at Bekka Valley, 1960. 109

Wedding guests dancing, Bekka Valley, 1960.
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111

Archway leading to Beirut street market, 1960.
112 ‘With my daughter Lina, running ahead.’

Armenian dancers, mountain café, Faraya, 1960.
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Mountain ski resort, 1960. Chef at mountain ski resort, 1960.
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Mountain hospitality, Moukhtara, 1960. 115

Farmers dining, Faraya, 1960.
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Mountain children with baby goat, Ghazir, 1960.
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Mosque, Beirut, 1960.
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Hammam, Tripoli, 1960. 119

Visitors and Druze sheikhs at the home of Druze Chief, Kamal Jumblatt, Moukhtara, 1960.
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122 Orthodox priest, Balamand Monastery, Al-Kurah, 1960.

Mountain Monastery, 1960.
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Horse Races, Akkar, 1960.
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126 Ferris wheel, end of Ramadan celebrations, South Lebanon, 1960.

Traditional swing, end of Ramadan celebrations, South Lebanon, 1960. 127

Palm Sunday celebrations, Byblos, 1960.
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Street photographers, Tripoli, 1960.
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‘ I could think many things about Marilyn Stafford’s photography,
but what springs to my mind when I remember the first time
I saw her photographs of Lebanon, is the emotion I felt. In
my experience, rare are the photographers who are able to
capture, not just the beauty, but the very soul of their subject.
I can confidently say Marilyn is such a photographer, and
’I am privileged that she chose me to publish her Lebanon
photography book in 1988.
André Gaspard
Publisher Saqi Books

Baalbek village, Bekka Valley, 1960.
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Chapter Five

LONDON ON
LOCATION:
FLEET STREET
& FASHION

Albert Finney in the BBC’s Acting in the Sixties series. The Observer
Review, UK edition, 23 April, 1967. Photo by Marilyn Stafford.
132

Camden Town, London, 1950. 133

I came to London in the mid-60s, separated from my
husband, with a small child to care for. While some
women were finding their feet in journalism, it was more
difficult to be a female photographer. Not many women
were pursuing news photography, other than features
on women’s or family issues. I became one of very few
women photographers on Fleet Street at that time working
for a range of British and international newspapers
and magazines. I was given great help and support by
Hungarian-born photographer, Michael Peto, who I had
met on a previous trip to London. He introduced me to The
Observer Picture Editor, and I began freelance work on the
set of the BBC’s Acting in the Sixties series.
I captured stills of some of the great actors and playwrights
of the day being interviewed, including Albert Finney and
John Osborne. I continued to work on film and TV sets and
photographed Richard Attenborough on the Brighton
Pier set of Oh! What a lovely War and a very young Patrick
Moore filming The Sky at Night. I also photographed some
interesting cultural figures independently, including
surrealist painter Sir Roland Penrose, the husband of
photographer Lee Miller, and the US actor Lee Marvin,
who I became friends with as a fellow American in London.
Although he often played rough characters on screen, in
real life he was a true gentleman.

Vogue Notebook - Rudolf
Nureyev, Margot Fontaine,
Cecil Beaton among other
celebrities at fundraising
event, London, c1970.

Vogue © The Condé Nast

Publications Ltd

134

Biba Boutique, Kensington Church Street, London, 1969. Marilyn reflected in the mirror with Biba model.
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PORTRAITS

Josef Herman, OBE (1911-2000), London, c1965. Highly regarded and influential Polish- Michael Peto (1908-1970), photographer, London, c1965.
British painter. Well known for his paintings of Welsh miners in Ystradgynlais, Wales. Internationally recognised Hungarian-British photojournalist,
‘Josef was a dear family friend - he was visiting us in Paris at the time my daughter Lina
was born and he became her godfather.’ his photographs include Winston Churchill and The Beatles.

Josef Herman, his wife Nini Herman and their son David, London, c1965. ‘Michael generously introduced me to The Observer where he was a staff
photographer, and we became good friends.’
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John Osborne (1929-1994), Oscar-winning playwright and screenwriter, London, 1967. On the set of the BBC series Acting in the Sixties. Most celebrated for his work Look Back in Anger
(1959), which gave voice to the working-class man and from which the phrase ‘angry young man’ was coined.

138

Albert Finney (1936-2019), British actor, London, 1967. In the course of his career, Finney earned five Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe Awards (from eight nominations)
and a BAFTA Award (from nine nominations) as well as winning many awards for his stage performances, including John Osborne’s Luther (1963).

139

Sir Richard Attenborough (1923-2014), British
actor and filmmaker, London, 1970. President
of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA)
and British Academy of Film and Television
Arts (BAFTA). Most noted for his role as Pinkie
in Brighton Rock and as director of the films
Gandhi and Cry Freedom. He was the older
brother of Sir David Attenborough.

Sir Richard Attenborough and Lee Remick on
the set of A Severed Head, London, 1969.

Lee Remick (1935- 1991), American actress,
London, 1969. Starring with Richard
Attenborough, on the set of A Severed Head,
a film based on the Iris Murdoch novel.

140

Sir Alan Bates (1934-2003),
British actor, London, c1970.
Bates acted in numerous films

including Zorba the Greek
(1964), Far from the Madding
Crowd (1967) and Ken Russell’s

Women in Love (1969).

141

Lee Marvin (1924- Lee Marvin, American actor,
1987), American actor, London, c1969.
London, c1969.
Remembered for his ‘When I told him I had not
husky voice, and as one seen the film in which he
of America’s best film sang Wandering Star, he
and television actors of took off his boots there and
bad guys and rugged
heroes. Star of films then and sang it to me!’
Dirty Dozen, Cat Balou
and for his rendition of
Wandering Star in Paint
Your Wagon.

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(Top left and top right) Sir Patrick Moore (1923-2012),
astronomer, writer, and TV presenter, London, c1970.
On the set of the BBC’s The Sky at Night, the world’s
longest running TV series.

(Bottom left) Warren Mitchell playing Alf Garnett in the
British TV sitcom series Till Death Do Us Part. On set, BBC,
London, c1970.

(Bottom right) Sir David Frost, OBE, (1939 - 2013) British
writer and television host at his home, London, c1970.

House and Garden © The Condé Nast Publications Ltd.

(Right) Sir Jonathan Miller, CBE (1934- 2019)
London, UK, 1969. British theatre and opera director, actor,
humourist, author, physician and TV presenter.

145

Singer/songwriter Donovan (b1946) and poet Christopher Logue (1926-2011), London, c1960.
Donovan was a musical icon of the sixties ‘flower-power’ counterculture. Logue was an English poet, best noted for his adaptation of Homer’s Iliad. Logue protested, along with Bertrand Russell
and others, against nuclear weapons.

146

The Liverpool Poets, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 1968. Poets Brian Patten (left) Roger McGough (reading) and Adrian Henri (right) combined music and poetry in their performances.
147

Elisabeth Bergner (1897-1986),
London c1970. Austrian-British
actress who acted in numerous films,
most notably Escape Me Never for
which she was an Academy Award
nominee for Best Actress. During
World War ll, Bergner helped fellow
actors, artists and children to flee
Nazi Germany.

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Brigid Brophy, (1929-1995), London, c1960. British writer, Bernice Rubens (1923-2004), London, c1960.
feminist, pacifist, campaigner for rights of authors. She was Welsh novelist and first woman to win The Booker Prize for The Elected Member in 1970.
known for her outspoken views on marriage, sex, pornography,
religious education in schools, animal rights, and the Vietnam 149
War. Her many books include Hackenfeller’s Ape (1953) and The

Rights of Animals (1969).

Sir Herbert Read, DSO, (1893-1968), London c1970. English art historian, literary critic, poet, philosopher and anarchist. Read was co-founder, alongside Sir Roland Penrose, of the Institute of
Contemporary Arts (ICA), London.

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