Hidden Frames: Unpublished Photos From Classic LIFE Assignments
Hidden Frames: Unpublished Photos From Classic LIFE Assignments
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Not published in LIFE. An unpublished photo from the same portrait session reveals Hepburn's lighter side -- the bright-eyed, charming, relatable girl that the public adored.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Certain photos capture more than a moment: they capture history. Beyond the perfect lighting or the impeccable composition, there’s something else: a hint of emotion in the subject’s face, or perhaps a gesture that points to something deeper, something that elevates the image to a place where it helps defines a moment, or an entire era. Such classic images are incredibly rare—but what about the photos taken just before or just after those iconic shots?
LIFE.com scoured LIFE magazine’s archives to find just such forgotten frames—pictures that were made on the same assignments as classic photos, but wound up never making it into print. Viewing these outtakes adds new dimensions to the history and personalities we think we know. Here, then, a look at nine famous LIFE photos, each compared with a picture from the same shoot. Seen side by side, each set offers a fascinating look into the way a single picture can inform—and sometimes even alter—our sense of history.
Images from the contact sheet for Alfred Eisenstaedt's classic 1953 shoot with Marilyn Monroe.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe Classic Photo: Senator and presidential candidate John F. Kennedy (left) and his campaign manager, Robert Kennedy, confer in a hotel room during the Democratic National Convention, Los Angeles, July 1960.Hank Walker—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. The Kennedy brothers photographed in the same Los Angeles hotel room -- but the mood is quite different. Gone is the intense intimacy of the iconic shot: Bobby's jacket is off, liquor bottles are visible atop the bureau, and the cheerful botanical wallpaper dominates, lending the scene a more relaxed, business-as-usual vibe.Hank Walker—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe Classic Photo: Audrey Hepburn, 1956. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. An unpublished photo from the same portrait session reveals Hepburn's lighter side -- the bright-eyed, charming, relatable girl that the public adored.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe Classic Photo: Robert Kennedy runs with his dog, Freckles, along the Oregon coast, 1968.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. On the same campaign trip, photographer Bill Eppridge caught Kennedy walking with Freckles by the side of a road in a picture that cannot approximate the symbolic power of the beach photo.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe Classic Photo: Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell take a break on the set of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1953.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Seconds later the mood changes, almost as if Monroe and Russell snapped to attention after hearing the click of the shutter in Ed Clark's camera. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe Classic Photo: "I'm not home much, but when I am she seems to like me," then-Senator John F. Kennedy told LIFE of his relationship with his baby daughter, Caroline, in 1958.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. John Kennedy holds his daughter Caroline while lounging on a bed at home in Georgetown, 1958. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe Classic Photo: The playwright and composer Noel Coward poses in the desert outside Las Vegas, 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Noel Coward hoists a cocktail in a sort of "cheers" to LIFE's Loomis Dean. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe Classic Photo: John and Jackie Kennedy celebrate his inauguration before a jubilant, well-heeled crowd, January 1961. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. A horizontal shot of the same scene that includes not only the President and First Lady but also the new Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe Classic Photo: Twenty-four -year-old Shirley MacLaine pulls a funny face with her 2-year-old daughter, Sachi Parker, during a portrait session with LIFE's Allan Grant. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. "Sachi is is a ham," her mom told LIFE. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe Classic Photo: Children watch the story of "Saint George and the Dragon" at an outdoor puppet theater in Paris, 1963.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Here, we see all of the same children as in Eisenstaedt's famous shot, and they are, of course, adorable. But that classic picture's unrivaled energy -- especially that provided by the kid who rockets up and raises an arm in triumph -- is somewhat missing here.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
