An exceptionally rare early image of young Norma Jeane — just before she became the legendary Marilyn Monroe. Photographed circa 1946 by celebrated photographer Richard C. Miller, this evocative 4” x 5” vintage color transparency depicts the smiling future Hollywood icon swimming gracefully through luminous turquoise water at the Sheraton Townhouse Hotel pool in Los Angeles during one of her earliest professional modeling sessions.

Radiating natural beauty, warmth, and youthful innocence, Norma Jeane appears relaxed, carefree, and genuinely happy — a striking contrast to the carefully constructed glamour persona that would later define Marilyn Monroe. The image offers a deeply intimate glimpse into the earliest chapter of her extraordinary life and career, captured at the threshold of international stardom.

Produced during the 1970s using Kodak “Edupe” duplicating film from material preserved in Richard C. Miller’s archive, the transparency retains original “Eastman Safety Kodak” and “Kodak Edupe” film-edge markings. Historical references confirm that Miller photographed Norma Jeane during this exact period using a Speed Graphic camera with 4×5 Kodachrome film. As a result, this 4” × 5” Kodak Edupe transparency may derive directly from the original Kodachrome source material or represent an early-generation archival duplication made from Miller’s original transparencies — significantly strengthening its historical and archival importance.

Richard C. Miller is widely recognized for his pioneering color photography techniques and mastery of the highly sophisticated Carbro process, as well as for creating some of the earliest and most historically important photographs of Marilyn Monroe before fame transformed her into a global icon.

Early Marilyn Monroe images from 1946 remain exceptionally scarce, particularly vintage archival transparencies associated directly with important photographers of the era. A visually captivating and historically significant artifact from the dawn of Marilyn Monroe’s legendary career.