When photographer Amy Gaskin visited Marilyn Monroe’s crypt during the early days of the pandemic, she was intrigued by the “wet lipstick marks decorating [Marilyn’s] resting place,” present even while much of the world was social distancing. Curiosity piqued, she began photographing visitors at the grave. 

They shared with her stories of why Monroe was important to them. In these photographs, Gaskin captures the undying dedication of the many superfans who visit Monroe and demonstrate their devotion to the icon across the world. These fans don her iconic look because they find commonalities with the woman she was, not the woman they imagine she might have been. They find consistent, real joy in Monroe. 

In the aftermath of the Notre Dame fire six years ago, National Geographic editors pulled some of their favorite historic shots of the iconic church out of our image collection.

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter, which was edited and curated by William O'Connor with the help of National Geographic’s photo team. It was produced by Alisher Egamov. Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here to catch next week’s Photo of the Week newsletter.