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| ‘It was my first ever photograph’ … Albert Einstein at home in New Jersey in 1948. Photograph: Marilyn Stafford |
Marilyn Stafford's best photograph: Albert Einstein in his lounge
‘It was a little after the Hiroshima bombing. Einstein sat in his lounge wearing baggy tracksuit trousers – and spoke out against atomic weapons’
Interview by Kim Willsher
Wed 3 Jan 2018 17.07 GMT
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One weekend, two friends making a documentary told me they were driving to New Jersey to interview Albert Einstein, hoping he’d say something against nuclear bombs. This was not long after Hiroshima. On the way, they gave me a 35mm camera and told me to take pictures while they filmed. I’d no idea what I was doing. I’d never used a 35mm before so they had to give me a quick lesson in the back of the car.
Einstein was wonderful. He came to the door in baggy tracksuit trousers and sweatshirt. He was so at ease he made us all feel relaxed, too. My friends filmed and I took pictures. Afterwards, I handed over the film, they sent me a couple of prints, and I didn’t think much more of it. The pictures appear grainy but they really capture the atmosphere that day in Einstein’s lounge, as he spoke out strongly against atomic weapons.
A few months later, I went to Paris with a friend and worked as a singer at Chez Carrère, an exclusive dining club off the Champs Élysées. Edith Piaf would arrive with her huge entourage, which included Charles Aznavour, and we’d all go back to her house in the Bois de Boulogne for breakfast.
It was a fantastic time to be in Paris. I met so many people. One evening at Chez Carrère I was invited to join Eleanor Roosevelt’s table. Another time, Bing Crosby asked me to the races at Longchamp. It was the start of a great friendship.
I’d take a camera with me everywhere and do “happy snaps”, but even then it didn’t cross my mind to become a professional photographer until I lost my voice and realised I couldn’t go on singing. I hinted to Robert Capa, who I’d been introduced to with Henri Cartier-Bresson, that I’d love to try my hand. I was a bit shy about asking: they were gods. Capa suggested I do some war photography.
I really didn’t want to go to war, though. So, at Cartier-Bresson’s suggestion, I began taking pictures in the streets. I discovered a slum near the Bastille and took a lot of photos there and also did some fashion work. I wasn’t much interested in the clothes but I loved taking the models out into the streets. That simply wasn’t done back then.
I’ve had a wonderful life and have wonderful memories. These days, I want to help other young female photographers, which is why I started theMarilyn Stafford FotoReportage award. There were only 10 female photographers on Fleet Street when I came to England and, although there are more now, the balance is still unequal.
This was the very first picture I ever took. So it was quite by accident, and thanks to Albert Einstein, that I became a photographer.
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| Marilyn Stafford in Paris in the 1950s. Photograph: Gene Fenn |
Marilyn Stafford’s CV
Born: 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Trained: Mentored by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa.
Influences: Dust bowl photographs by Dorothea Lange; the work of Cartier-Bresson and Capa; Life magazine.
Low point: “The imbalance of women to men in documentary photography.”
High points: “My first front page in 1958 with Algerian refugees; and meeting Albert Einstein.”
Top tip: “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”
