Marilyn Stafford - A Life in Photography

Sir Roland Penrose (1900-1984),
Surrealist painter and art collector,

London, c1965. Husband of
photographer Lee Miller, and friend
and biographer of Picasso, Man Ray,
Miró, and Tàpies. Co-founder, alongside
Sir Herbert Read, of the Institute of

Contemporary Arts (ICA), London.
‘I was very impressed to see the Picasso

original in his London townhouse,
one rarely sees Picassos hanging so

nonchalantly on the wall.’

151

Sir Alan Lane, (1902 - 1970). London, 1965. British publisher, co-founder of Penguin Books Sir John ‘Jock’ Middleton Campbell (1912-1994), London, c1970.
with his brothers Richard and John Lane, in 1935. Instrumental in the initiation of The Booker Prize.
Sir Alan Lane, publisher, with Indian writer, Mulk Raj Anand, London c1965.

152

Jack Lindsay, (1900-1990), London, c1965. Prolific Australian-born writer, historian, translator,
publisher and political activist. He was the son of renowned painter Norman Lindsay.

153

Sharon Tate (1943-1969), American actress, London, c1960.
Tate earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role as
Jennifer North in the 1967 cult classic film Valley of the Dolls.
Wife of film director Roman Polanski, she was tragically
murdered in their California home, when eight months
pregnant, by followers of the cult leader Charles Manson.

154

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Luciano Berio (1925-2003), Italian composer, London, c1970.

Vogue © The Condé Nast Publications Ltd.

156

Lorin Maazel (1930-2014),
American conductor,

violinist and composer,
London, c1970.

Vogue © The Condé Nast
Publications Ltd.

157

SWINGING LONDON

Photographing fashion and personalities was a more
common avenue for women in 1960’s London and
my work featured regularly in American, British and
international publications. I photographed many
fashion icons of the day including Twiggy – capturing
some of the media furore which surrounded
her. To me, this embodied the ‘male gaze’ – the
objectification of women. I also photographed
designer Jean Muir’s collections and her star model
Joanna Lumley, as well as Biba’s iconic collections.
British fashion of the day spanned from conservative
and restrained to its polar opposite by the late 60s
and early 70s with the introduction of flamboyant,
brightly coloured clothes, led by the mini skirt.
London was fast becoming a centre for fashion
where the motto might have been ‘anything goes’.
In the early 70s, I met a young French photographer,
Michel Arnaud, at a party held by the French Cultural
Attaché. At the time he was covering Prêt-à-Porter for
a French magazine so we had a lot in common. We
decided to set up a fashion agency which we called
Arnaud Stafford Associates (A.S.A) and for the next
15 years we covered the Prêt-à-Porter and Haute
Couture collections in Paris, Rome, London and New
York. It was exhausting work, but I earned a good
living which permitted me the time, in between
shows, to pursue a more fulfilling but less lucrative
kind of photography, namely social documentary.

Hotpants, London, c1970.

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‘Male Gaze’, photographers, fashion shoot, London 1960.
‘From behind the lens, I observed scenes unfolding at the fashion shows, on the catwalks and backstage.
At times there was a predatory sense of capturing the perfect image of the perfect woman. Plus ça change.’

159

‘ For many years I worked with Marilyn. We met through mutual in Paris, was away and he had access to his apartment. We purchased
friends at the French Cultural Consulate in London. My career as a equipment and chemicals to get this ‘on the fly’ lab in process in the
reportage photographer was in the doldrums and I was looking for new Ambassador’s bathroom but just at the point we should have been
opportunities. Marilyn suggested that I go to Paris to cover the fashion delivering the processed film to our clients, we found our aspiring lab
shows. We decided to work as a team, and promptly set up Arnaud technician on the verge of a breakdown, engulfed by half dry negative
Stafford Associates, an agency covering fashion shows in Paris, Rome, strips hanging all around him. The reality hit us, our rosy plan was a
Milan, London, New York and then selling to newspapers and magazine disaster and we needed to call the whole thing off and find a real lab!
worldwide. It was a momentous decision; Marilyn was the most reliable Marilyn kept her cool throughout, but I am not so sure the same thing
business partner I could have ever wished for – our business flourished could be said for me.
and became very successful.
One season, however, we were intent on expanding our services and ’I am truly lucky to have met and worked with such an amazing business
undercutting our competition, so we decided to do our own colour
processing. We engaged the services of a young man who was apparently woman and photographer, and in the process, to become her friend.
tech savvy and very enthusiastic. His friend’s father, an Ambassador Michel Arnaud
Photographer

Paris and Milan Ready-to-Wear, Spring - Summer,1983. London Fashion Week, model wearing
Ossie Clark, London, c1969.
Vogue © The Condé Nast Publications Ltd.

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London Fashion Week, Ready-
to-Wear runway show, c1969.
Model Pattie Boyd, one of the
leading international models
during the 1960s, who married
the famous musicians George

Harrison in 1966, and Eric
Clapton in 1979.

161

Ossie Clark (1942-1996), and Alice Pollock (b1942), major British fashion
designers in the ‘swinging sixties’, London, c1969.

Hylan Booker (b1939), Detroit-born dress designer, London, c1968. Celia Birtwell (b1941), British textile and fashion designer, London, 1969. Her work
The first black couturier in Europe, he was Head of the House of Worth in the epitomised the trends of the 1960s/70s. Along with her husband, Ossie Clark, they
1960s and a recipient of the prestigious Yardley Award in 1967. created Haute Couture for the rich and famous, including The Rolling Stones, The
Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and royalty.
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‘Birds of the 70s’, Chelsea Market, London, c1970. 163

‘ I have always loved the picture Marilyn took of me
in Jean Muir and I have a print framed and on the
wall as you go up the stairs. This brings so much
’affection and admiration that if it was heaped at
Marilyn’s feet she would disappear from view.
Joanna Lumley

Joanna Lumley (b1946), British actress, author, model, activist, presenter, London, c1966.
Modelling a dress by designer, Jean Muir. Lumley was Jean Muir’s favourite model.

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Joanna Lumley (left) backstage with models, before Jean Muir fashion show, London,
c1966. In July 2021, Lumley unveiled a plaque honouring Jean Muir on the Bruton Street

house in London where she had her studio and showroom.

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Twiggy, press call, London, c1966.

‘Seeing these photographs that Marilyn took
reminds me of how very young I was when
I was first discovered. One photograph was
at the launch of my first clothing range
’collection back in 1967. I loved that velour
jumpsuit I’m wearing!
Twiggy

Twiggy and Justin de Villeneuve, her manager, London, 1967.
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Twiggy (b1949), London, c1966.
British fashion model, actress, singer, and cultural icon of the ‘Swinging Sixties’.

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Biba Boutique, dressing room, Kensington Church Street, London, 1969. ‘Fashion should be fun and enjoyed by everyone, not just the privileged.’ Barbara Hulanicki, Founder of Biba.
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Biba Boutique, Kensington Church 169
Street, London, 1969.

Portrait of model wearing famous
‘brown lace dress’.

Chapter Six

INDIRA GANDHI:
INDIA’S WOMAN

PRIME
MINISTER

Indian soldiers during the Indo-Pakistani War, 1971.
170

Indira Gandhi, the first and only woman Prime Minister of India, arrives in Kashmir at the start of her tour, 1971. 171

ON THE ROAD TO
MRS GANDHI

‘ I first met Marilyn Stafford in Bombay in 1971 at the house of the
late Dr Mulk Raj Anand, the famous international author. At the
time I was a young lawyer in Delhi. Marilyn was full of life and her
camera just kept clicking. She particularly focused on people who
were ignored by society.
I drove the three of us in a small Fiat car, registration MRY 4851,
from Bombay to Delhi. In those days, the roads were terrible, and
conveniences were non- existent. We did not stay in luxury hotels,
but most of the time in Government Guesthouses and Marilyn never
complained. She was completely dedicated to taking remarkable
photographs of the people in the countryside and in historical
places. As the car’s suspension was not good and the roads were
bumpy, it caused backache for both Marilyn and Dr Mulk Raj Anand,
so in the evenings, I stood on their backs to relieve their pain. Luckily,
I was not overweight at that time.
After travelling nearly 1,200 kilometres, we arrived in Delhi where
Marilyn was introduced to Mrs Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister
of India. It was during the turbulent time when Bangladesh was
being created. Marilyn stayed in Delhi for a month and extensively
photographed Mrs Gandhi and her family members. Marilyn
also accompanied Mrs Gandhi on a flight to Srinagar and
photographed her in the Kashmir Valley on her duties.
In 1972, I met Marilyn in London again when I joined Middle Temple
Inn and was called to the Bar. Since then, we have remained close
friends – we are like brother and sister. Marilyn is a compassionate
’and kind-hearted lady, who always wants to help others.
God bless her.
Sahib Sehrawat (Pappu)

172

The Taj Mahal, Agra, 1971. Camouflaged with jute netting and branches for protection from hostile attacks by Pakistan airplanes during the Indo-Pakistani War. 173

INDIRA GANDHI

Indira Gandhi was the first and, to date, only female Prime Minister of India By the time we arrived in Delhi, Mrs Gandhi was already victorious and
from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. planning to go on tour to thank the army and wounded soldiers. I spent an
Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, had worked alongside Mohandas Gandhi to exciting month with her photographing her visits to army bases and
bring India to independence in 1947, at which time he became the first hospitals and speaking at mass rallies. We eventually came back to her
Prime Minister of the new India until his death in 1964. Delhi home, where she warmly welcomed me to photograph her family life.
In 1971, through my friend the Indian writer Mulk Raj Anand, who knew her I met her family – her two sons Sanjiv and Rajiv, Rajiv’s wife Sonia, her new
Secretary P.N. Haksar, I was invited by Mrs Gandhi to do a photo-essay to be grandchild baby Priyanka, and her grandson Rahul, who played among the
entitled A Day in the Life of Indira Gandhi. Having arrived in Bombay, I made sandbags, which had protected her house during the war.
my way overland to Delhi to meet her. On the journey we passed through Indira Gandhi would meet people in her garden several times a week to
Agra and saw the Taj Mahal camouflaged in jute netting and branches. We receive their petitions. Over time some of her policies became unpopular
later learned this was to protect it from pre-emptive strikes by the Pakistan and she was assassinated in her garden in 1984 by one of her own
Airforce, which marked the beginning of the Indo-Pakistani War. bodyguards. Her son, Rajiv, aged 40, became India’s youngest Prime
Mrs Gandhi supported East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and its Bengali Minister, but he too was assassinated in 1991.
nationalist forces in their fight for independence from Pakistan. The Indo- In 2020, Indira Gandhi was named by Time magazine among the world’s
Pakistani War was one of the world’s shortest, lasting only 13 days, and it 100 women who defined the last century.
brought the Bangladesh Liberation War, which had been raging on for
months, to its final conclusion.
I asked Mrs Gandhi if she thought I should go to Bangladesh to
photograph the girls and women who had been raped by the Pakistani
soldiers during the war and she said, ‘Yes, the world needs to know what
happened to those poor souls.’

Indira Gandhi consults personal aides on a plane bound for Kashmir, Marilyn boarding Indian Air Force plane, New Delhi, India, 1971. Marilyn accompanied Indira
174 following the Indo-Pakistani War, 1971. Gandhi on her tour of Kashmir, following the Indo-Pakistani War.

Indira Gandhi (1917-1984), New Delhi, 1971.
Boarding her private plane. Following the war with Pakistan, Indira Gandhi toured India visiting army bases, hospitals and speaking at mass rallies.

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Indira Gandhi, with her bodyguards, on her tour of Kashmir, 1971.
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Indira Gandhi visiting wounded soldier in hospital following the Indo-Pakistani War, Kashmir, 1971.
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Avid spectators await Indira Gandhi from every vantage point, Kashmir, 1971.

Crowds line the street awaiting Indira Gandhi, Kashmir, 1971.
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Government College for Women welcoming Indira Gandhi, Kashmir, 1972.

Indira Gandhi was warmly welcomed by large crowds, Kashmir, 1971.

179

Indira Gandhi’s flower-strewn
motorcade en route to rally,
Kashmir, 1971.

Indira Gandhi’s driver ‘behind
the scenes’ at mass rally,
Kashmir, 1971.
180

Indira Gandhi, speaking at mass rally, Kashmir, 1971. 181

Pomp and ceremony at Indira Gandhi mass rally, Srinagar, Kashmir, 1971.
182

Indira Gandhi, speaking at mass rally, Srinagar, Kashmir, 1971.
183

Indira Gandhi greeting women
184 at mass rally, Kashmir, 1971.

Women at mass rally, Kashmir, 1971. 185

Number 1 Safdarjung Indira Gandhi at
Road, New Delhi, 1972. home with her new
Residence of Indira Gandhi. grandchild Priyanka,
In October 1984 she was
assassinated at these gates New Delhi, 1972.
by her Sikh bodyguards.

Indira Gandhi, in her
office at home with her
Afghan Hound. She also
had a Siamese cat. New
Delhi, 1972.

186

Indira Gandhi in her
office, at home,

New Delhi, 1972.

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Rajiv Gandhi, with his son Rajiv Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, on visit to Number 1 Safdarjung Road, New Delhi, 1972.
Rahul, New Delhi, 1972. ‘Rajiv Gandhi was a very good amateur photographer. Here he is photographing his wife Sonia
and their son Rahul’.

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Rahul, grandson of Indira Gandhi, playing beside sandbags, which were used to protect his grandmother’s house during the Indo-Pakistani War. New Delhi, 1972.
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Indira Gandhi in her garden, New Delhi, 1972. In front of her Lutyens-designed bungalow.

Three times a week Indira Gandhi received visitors in her garden, with petitions, complaints or to bestow good wishes and flower garlands. New Delhi, 1972.
190

Visitors leaving Indira Gandhi’s garden at Number 1 Safdarjung Road, New Delhi, 1972.
191

Chapter Seven

BANGLADESH
LIBERATION WAR:

THE
AFTERMATH

Painting created by child victim of the Bangladesh
Liberation War, Dhaka, 1972.
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Women under banyan tree at rally of Bangladesh’s Prime Minister-designate, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Dhaka, 1972. 193

In the early aftermath of the horrific Liberation War of Bangladesh in late genocidal rape. The war lasted nine months, until the Indo-Pakistani War,
1971 and early 1972, I was still in India, documenting Mrs Gandhi on her fought and won by Indira Gandhi in December 1971, finally brought it
post-war tour of army bases, hospitals and mass rallies. My friend, the to an end, and the country of Bangladesh was created.
Indian writer, Mulk Raj Anand, was concerned about the fate of some I photographed some of the destruction in Bangladesh from ruined
of his Bengali writer friends and wanted to know if they needed help, villages, to broken bridges, to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s ransacked
or if they were even still alive, and I was to accompany him on a trip to home, but it was more difficult to get access to the rape victims. Many
Bangladesh. I was personally motivated to capture the destruction left by men, and even women, felt that the raped girls had dishonoured their
the war but, most importantly, to tell the stories of those physically and families and wanted nothing to do with them. However, through the
emotionally scarred by it, particularly the girls and women that had been grapevine, someone had heard about me, and one day a young woman
raped by Pakistani soldiers. came to my door. ‘Sister, I hear you want to do a story about our poor
On 25th March 1971, the Pakistan military junta, based in West Pakistan, sisters. I am here to help you’. That was Salma Chowdhury, who has since
had launched an attack on the people of East Pakistan, who were trying set up numerous shelters for women in need in Bangladesh.
to create the breakaway nation of Bangladesh. ‘Operation Searchlight’ To this day, I am still in contact with her and her family who call me
pursued the systematic killing of approximately 300,000 Bengali civilians, ‘Auntie’. On my return to the UK, The Guardian did a story about the
students, intelligentsia, religious minorities and armed personnel raped women and the subsequent campaign raised funds to send to
through massacres and air strikes. The Prime Minister-designate, Sheikh Bangladesh to help support them. My time in Bangladesh affected
Mujibur Rahman, was arrested and his village home was ransacked. Ten me very deeply. When I got back to London, I was offered a staff post
million Bengali refugees fled to neighbouring India, and thirty million on a leading international fashion newspaper. I turned it down as I
people were displaced overall. It is estimated that between 200,000 and could not face living in the fashion world full time after what I had
400,000 Bengali women were subjected to a systematic campaign of witnessed in Bangladesh.

Indian writer Mulk Raj Anand and Marilyn about to board helicopter to see ransacked home and village of Prime Minister-designate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Dhaka,1972.
194

Helicopter crew preparing for flight over war-damaged villages of Bangladesh. Dhaka, 1972.
195

Village home of Sheikh Destroyed photograph
Mujiber Rahman, Tungipara, of Rabindranath Tagore
Gopalganj District, 1972. (1861-1941). Tagore was a
‘The village home of Sheikh leading Bengali philosopher,
Mujiber Rahman was ravaged composer, poet, author of
by the Pakistan Army, who Gitanjali, for which, in 1913,
destroyed all they could in he became the first non-
the house, from paintings to European to receive the Nobel
plumbing. They went on to Prize for Literature. Known
plunder and burn the village. as the ‘Bard of Bengal’ and
Many villagers were killed and founder of the movement to
I saw some women who had preserve the Bengali language.
gone mad from shock.’

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Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-1975), Dhaka, 1972.
Prime Minister-designate of Bangladesh from 1971 until his assassination
in 1975. He is considered to have been the driving force behind the
independence of Bangladesh and is widely known as the ‘Father of the
Nation’, and ‘Bangabandhu’ (‘Friend of Bengal’). He spent almost one fifth
of his life in Pakistani jails, on five separate occasions.

Indian writer Mulk Raj Anand with Sheikh Mujiber Rahman, Dhaka, 1972. 197

Public transportation, Dhaka,
1972. Following the Bangladesh
Liberation War there was
minimal public transportation
and the few buses available
were heavily overcrowded.

198

Many roads and bridges
were damaged or blocked

during the Bangladesh
Liberation War disrupting the

major transport routes.
Outskirts of Dhaka, 1972.

Aerial view of one of the many
villages targeted during the
Bangladesh Liberation War,
Gopalganj District, 1972.
199

Villagers warmly welcoming
Indian writer Mulk Raj Anand,
in the aftermath of the
Bangladesh Liberation War,
Gopalganj District, 1972.

Hindu villagers, Gopalganj
District, 1972.

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