EXPOSED: Bob Willoughby in GALA Magazine

Elliott Gallery wishes to thank Penelope Massouri and Gala (Proto Thema, GR) for their wonderful Bob Willoughby article.

Elvis Presley and Sophia Loren, 1958 by Bob Willoughby

For this impressively styled eight page spread, Penelope interviewed Bob’s son and Director of his archive, Christopher Willoughby. Christopher gave some touching insights into his exciting family life, as son of the most innovative, caring and legendary photographer in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

"Our house was full of ancient Greek vases, paintings, collections," said Christopher. "But the most important thing was that he (Bob) cared for those he photographed. He always wanted them at their best, and they knew it and trusted him. (We could be) climbing on Tony Curtis’s back or crawling (on the floor) with Audrey Hepburn, with Dad taking pictures of us. (But) we lived a normal family life, with dad going to work the morning and returning home in the evening.”

Hollywood hired Bob in the 1950s as the first, and only, Freelance photographer. And for four decades, Bob used his unique ability to create iconic, authentic images of Elvis, Sophia Loren, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and many more of the world’s most loved celebrities. He is also credited with the motion picture 'still' – another first – as well as pioneering several technical innovations on film sets.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honoured Willoughby in 1998 with a major retrospective and he won the Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Still Photography in 2004. His photographs are held in major collections worldwide including the National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C.; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the National Portrait Gallery, London; the Tate Collection, London; and the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. And of course… Elliott Gallery.