Mark Shaw

Mark Shaw (June 25, 1921 – January 26, 1969) was an American fashion and celebrity photographer in the 1950s and 1960s. He worked for Life magazine from 1952 to 1968, during which time 27 issues of Life carried cover photos by Shaw. Shaw's work also appeared in Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, Mademoiselle, and many other publications. He is best known for his photographs of John F. Kennedy, his wife Jacqueline Kennedy, and their children, Caroline and John F. Kennedy Jr. In 1964, many of these images were published in the book The John F. Kennedys: A Family Album, which became a bestseller.

Early life Shaw was born Mark Schlossman to working-class parents of Eastern European heritage in New York City and grew up on the Lower East Side. His mother Rebecca (or Reva) Silverstein (also Kanzer) (1895–1960) was a seamstress of Russian and Polish extraction; his father Joseph Charles Schlossman was a laborer and/or salesman of Austrian descent. They divorced while Mark was still a boy. Later he attended New York University, where he studied industrial design,

In December 1941, Shaw completed ROTC training with a lieutenant's commission. A month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force as Mark Schlossman, recording his occupation at enlistment as "photographer". He served as a pilot throughout World War II, and was highly decorated, flying fighters with the British forces in the North African Campaign and later flying transports over The Hump from India to China. Due to his expertise with multiengine planes, he was then assigned to Russian General Georgy Zhukov as his personal pilot. Shaw also flew one of the escort planes accompanying General Douglas MacArthur on his way to Tokyo to accept the Japanese surrender. This produced some of his best-known images, though most of the negatives were subsequently lost for many years.

Also during the 1950s, Shaw and fellow fashion and portrait photographer Richard Avedon contributed concurrently to a well-known, long-running ad campaign for Vanity Fair lingerie. Shaw won numerous Art Directors Club awards for his creative images in this campaign.

By the late 1950s, Shaw's career was reaching its zenith. Among the famous figures he photographed were Brigitte Bardot, Cary Grant, Danny Kaye, Grace Kelly, Nico, Pablo Picasso, Yves St. Laurent, Elizabeth Taylor, and many others.

In 1959, Life chose Shaw to photograph Jacqueline Kennedy while her husband, Senator John F. Kennedy, was running for president. This assignment was the beginning of an enduring working relationship and personal friendship with the Kennedys that would eventually lead to Shaw's acceptance as the Kennedys' de facto "family photographer". He visited them at the White House and at Hyannisport; during this time he produced his most famous photographs, portraying the couple and their children in both official and casual settings. In 1964, Shaw published a collection of these images in his book The John F. Kennedys: A Family Album, which was very successful.

Late in his career Shaw also worked in film, directing numerous television commercials for major companies. They had a son, David, two years later, and divorced in February 1965.

Death On January 26, 1969, Shaw died at his New York City apartment. His death was initially reported as a heart attack. An autopsy later revealed that Shaw had died of "acute and chronic intravenous amphetamine poisoning". At the time of his death, Shaw was being treated by physician Dr. Max Jacobson. Nicknamed "Dr. Feelgood" and "Miracle Max", Jacobson administered "vitamin shots" that consisted of a mixture of multivitamins, steroids, animal organ cells, hormones, placenta, bone marrow, and high doses of amphetamine to a number of high-profile celebrity clients. Shaw's death drew attention to Jacobson's practice which was publicly exposed in the media in December 1972. Jacobson eventually lost his medical license in 1975.

Legacy Following Shaw's death, his estate, including his large body of photographic work, passed to his ex-wives. In 1994, Shaw's son David Shaw and his wife Juliet Cuming took over management of Mark Shaw's photographic legacy and later purchased Geri Trotta's share of the collection. In 1999, they established the Mark Shaw Photographic Archive, in East Dummerston, Vermont, which is now the sole legal proprietor of Mark Shaw images. 1957 Art Directors Club - Award of Distinctive Merit, Editorial Art (Non-Fiction - Two Colors) American Television Commercial Festival (Clio) award: Television/Cinema, Best, 1964: "Night Ride" ad for Breck Shampoo (Director, Cameraman), Young & Rubicam agency, New York. American Television Commercial Festival (Clio) award: Television/Cinema, Best, 1964: "Ford Has Changed" ad for Ford Motor Company (Director), J. Walter Thompson agency, New York. American Television Commercial Festival (Clio) award: Television/Cinema, Best, 1967: "Words on Paper" ad for IBM typewriter (Production Company), Benton & Bowles agency, New York.