Bernard of Hollywood at WEAM: Portraits and Pages of Marilyn Monroe

Photo by Bruno Bernard/Courtesy of Susan Bernard

Marilyn in White 1954

Bruno Bernard, better known as Bernard of Hollywood, was the most sought-after photographer during cinema's golden age. He's known for pin-up style photographs, particularly the ones that helped to make Marilyn Monroe a Hollywood icon. And next week, you can see those photos firsthand, when his work is celebrated in an exhibit at the World Erotic Art Museum in conjunction with his daughter, Susan Bernard's, latest book.

Marilyn: Intimate Exposures commemorates Monroe's beauty and transformation from Norma Jean to Marilyn, as told through the lens and personal relationship Bernard had with Monroe as her photographer and confidant throughout her tumultuous career and tragic demise.

Susan Bernard grew up in the realm of Hollywood, eventually pursuing a career in celebrity on and off screen. At 16, she starred in the cult classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! And in December 1966, she was Playboy's Playmate of the Month, complete with a centerfold shot by her father's own apprentice. She has starred along side cinematic legends Orson Welles and Henry Fonda, and appeared in multiple television series, including General Hospital.

Courtesy of Susan Bernard

Father photographing daughter

After a year's worth of work going through memorabilia and keepsakes of her father and Monroe, Bernard is sharing her discoveries in her book, Intimate Exposures -- and bringing some of her father's Hollywood history to the WEAM.

"I was sifting through boxes and luggage that my father had collected over many years about Marilyn. It was really very painful. It was hard to choose, because you can do so much in this kind of book. It was a multi-layered project," Bernard said of the book, which features hand-written notes, letters, and journal entries to Marilyn.