Elizabeth Taylor

By the mid-1950s, Mark Shaw was one of LIFE magazine's go-to photographers, shooting 27 covers for the magazine and capturing some of the biggest names of the time, including Brigitte Bardot, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, the Kennedy family (for whom he was considered the “unofficial photographer”), and of course, Elizabeth Taylor. Mark and Elizabeth crossed paths at two very consequential moments of her career, resulting in photographs that continue to fascinate. 

Their first collaboration came in October 1956, when Shaw photographed Elizabeth for the cover of LIFE — the month before the release of Giant, in which Elizabeth was starring as Leslie Benedict, opposite Rock Hudson and James Dean. This was the kind of assignment Shaw specialized in: more formal than behind-the scenes, fashion-forward, and very glamorous, and the resulting portrait of Elizabeth wearing a white silk-satin nightgown and wrapped in a dramatically ruffled peignoir by Juel Park was no exception.

Image: © Mark Shaw / mptvimages.com 

Five years later, in 1961, Shaw was sent by LIFE to photograph Elizabeth again — this time connected to her acceptance of the Best Actress Oscar for BUtterfield 8. The win came during an especially difficult period in her personal life: Elizabeth had recently lost her beloved husband Mike Todd to tragedy, and just weeks before the awards, she had undergone an emergency tracheotomy after a near-fatal bout of pneumonia. Nevertheless, she attended the ceremony and posed for this portrait shoot. Shaw photographed her in the gown and jewels she wore to the ceremony itself: a color-blocked haute couture dress designed by Marc Bohan for Christian Dior’s Spring/Summer 1961 collection with her diamond and cultured pearl ear pendants and ring, by Ruser. Curiously, the images never ran with the story for which they were shot. They sat in Shaw's private possession for decades, only surfacing later through the Mark Shaw Photographic Archive and fine art galleries, where they're now sold as limited-edition prints. 

Image: © Mark Shaw / mptvimages.com 

Taken together, the two sessions bookend a pivotal stretch of Elizabeth's film career, from her rise as a leading lady in Giant to her arrival as an Academy Award winner in BUtterfield 8. Mark Shaw’s work is represented by MPTV Images — for licensing and print inquiries please visit their website.