Greta Garbo from the July 27, 1925 portrait session with Arnold Genthe
The July 1925 Portrait Sessions
After arriving in New York, Garbo would sit for photographer Arnold Genthe for three different portrait sessions. Their work would transform photography. the first session generated a single standard portrait. The next two sessions would generate fifteen groundbreaking images. Garbo would be the world’s most important portrait photography subject through her final film.
Garbo had arrived in New York on July 5, 1925. She was on her way to Hollywood and MGM’s immediate objective that July was to turn her letter of intent from January into a full contract. Complications arose and it would be two months before Garbo, and her companion director Mauritz Stiller, would depart.
She had been photographed dockside and then by Russell Ball. On July 21 Garbo arrived at Genthe’s studio to make a portrait. While Genthe did not work for MGM directly, he would take photographs of film stars as they traveled through New York and place them with magazines. This session produced a single image, which had the notation ‘swan neck’ on the negative sleeve. It was a typical Genthe portrait from that era.
Arnold Genthe was one of the important photographers of the early twentieth century. He made beautiful images. Technically he pushed the use of portable cameras for his series of photographs from San Francisco’s Chinatown. He wrote about photography as well. He would donate all of his prints and negatives to the Library of Congress.
At a time when subjects were posed for portraits, often physically held in place by metal guides, Genthe would put his subjects at ease and capture them in a natural state. The photo of Norma Shearer, from the early 1920s, is a great example of his usual work. She is relaxed. Like most Genthe portrait sessions, there is just this single image, selected from all of the exposures.
One can go to the Library of Congress’ website and all of Genthe’s work is online. Scanning through the images Genthe has generated years of portraits of actors, dancers and wealthy citizens. There is usually one, perhaps two, images from each sitting.
Genthe also was fascinated by modern dance and took thousands of images of dancers. These images often attempt to capture the emotion and movement of modern dance. Genthe often took these photographs outdoors. For example this image of Anna Duncan at the beach. Many leading photographers of the day found modern dance to be a compelling subject because of the emotional component. Henry Goodwin, who shot Garbo in Sweden before she left for America, and both Nickolas Muray and Edward Steichen, whom would each take several famous photos of Garbo in 1928 all took numerous photos of modern dancers in motion.
At the same time Lejaren à Hiller was trying to create what he called ‘the psychological moment’ in commercial photographs for his clients. Hiller would spend days trying to create a visual story of the moment a brand was important.
We don’t know what led Garbo to return to Genthe’s studio on July 27. The result was a stunning set of portraits that were the result of a photographer and subject working to express and capture emotion. Garbo didn’t pose for the camera, she acted. The first notable element is that Genthe printed nine images from July 27. Usually, a portrait session generated a single image, perhaps two. Genthe printed three images from his sitting with John Rockefeller, and that was unusual.
The images themselves are more like his modern dancer images, with Garbo captured in emotion or motion. A hand is often included expressively. One seems to register her thought. Taken as a group it is clear that the objective was to create a different kind of portrait, one that revealed more than the standard photograph. Garbo achieved this by acting and Genthe knew how to capture the essence of the performance.
It came off so well, Garbo and Genthe did it again on July 31. This time Garbo’s acting for the camera is more subtle. The images do not strike you as directly as the July 27 portraits, but Garbo’s thoughts still seem to come through to the viewer. After the breakthrough of July 27, the final session seems to reflect a calibration to deliver Garbo’s thoughts and emotions with more nuance.
Garbo would go on to create stunning portraits with a wide range of photographers, often creating with them their finest portraits. Garbo brought all of her skill and intensity to the studio, and they loved working with her. Portrait photography would never be the same.