The Sunday Times Magazine celebrates 50 years with photographic exhibition

Portraits of a scantily clad Marilyn Monroe and Lady Gaga,  the  moment Ronald Regan is shot, forlorn miners and pit ponies, and a fortified Royal Ulster Constabulary post on a residential Northern Ireland street, are some of the arresting images which The Sunday Times Magazine has splashed on its front cover over the last 50 years.

Ronald Regan shooting 1981
Ronald Reagan shooting 1981

Now the magazine is celebrating with the Saatchi Gallery and bringing together the work of photographers including Don McCullin, David Bailey, Eve Arnold, Sam Taylor Wood and Stuart Franklin.

Lady Gaga cover, 06 December 2009
Lady Gaga cover, 06 December 2009

Most of the covers will have been overseen by Michael Rand, who was the magazine’s art director from 1963-1994.

According to a Sunday Times Magazine spokeswoman, ‘He always believed the magazine should be filled with the “grit and glamour”, considering it primarily a picture magazine.’

Marilyn cover, October 7, 1973, photographed by Bert Stern
Marilyn cover, October 7, 1973, photographed by Bert Stern

The Marilyn Monroe cover, published on October 7, 1973 was a portrait by Bert Stern of Monroe taken six weeks before her death. This was selected from 2000 photographs which were shot over two days in June 1962, in the Bel-Air hotel, Los Angeles, which was allegedly sprayed with Channel No 5 perfume. For one shoot, Monroe was nude.

Hilary Clinton cover, September 22, 1996, by Gary Hedgman
Hilary Clinton cover, September 22, 1996, by Gary Hedgman

Hillery Clinton appeared on the September 22, 1996 cover in a photomontage by Gary Hedgman, sporting a black eye as the face of The Statue of Liberty to illustrate a piece by writer Erica Jong, who claimed that Clinton ‘is burned as a witch week in and week out so that her husband can rise in the polls.’

Miners and pit ponies, County Durham, photographed by John Bulmer, March 28, 1965
Miners and pit ponies, County Durham, photographed by John Bulmer, March 28, 1965

On March 28 1965 photographer John Bulmer captured this image of miners and their pit ponies, for an issue on the North of England, which was finding prosperity in the 1960s.

RUC command post photographed by Jonathan Olley, April 9, 2000

This incongruous building is a reinforced barracks and RUC command post on a residential street, photographed on April 9, 2000,  by Jonathan Olley shortly after the Good Friday Agreement which would usher in the Northern Ireland Peace Process.

Generation XXX art directed and designed by Alyson Waller
Generation XXX art directed and designed by Alyson Waller

Art directed and designed by Alyson Waller, this December 19, 2010 cover fronted a feature on how internet porn is forming the sexual development of a generation of teenagers.

Waller says, ‘There were no photos to go with the story and it didn’t seem right to put pictures of teenagers on the cover. I wanted it to look graphic but not crude. I didn’t want an image of a boring computer, and people having sex didn’t summarise the feature either.

After sketching up the idea to get it approved Waller found a ‘sexy’ mouse on the internet, styled it up with pink paper and got it photographed.

 The Sunday Times Magazine 50th Anniversary Exhibition will take place from 31 January – 19 February at the Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, Kings Road, London, SW3. Entry is free.

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