Beginnings
2025 Collection
As we embark on the inaugural year of The Willoughby Society, we proudly celebrate our first annual collection theme: Beginnings. This 2025 collection is curated especially to celebrate our members' first opportunity to explore Bob Willoughby's extraordinary photography archive through their membership, and includes the debut of many never-before-seen photographs. The Beginnings theme represents not only the dawn of our Society, but also the initial step in our collective mission to preserve and share Bob Willoughby's legacy so we might inspire and delight new artists and art lovers.
The images featured in this collection capture the essence of newness, creation, and formative work - presenting a rich tapestry of intimate and defining moments that signify the start of something meaningful. From the first glimmers of fame to the quiet power of creative endeavors in practice, each photograph invites us to experience the profound beauty of artistic beginnings.
“Society Exclusive” images have never been produced to own, and will be exclusively offered to Willoughby Society members in a limited edition of ten.
Audrey Hepburn, studio car - 1953
Chet Baker, white t-shirt - 1953
Jean Seberg with peach - 1957
Birds over plowed field - 1957 (Society Exclusive)
Roy Eldridge on stage at The Shrine - 1950 (Society Exclusive)
Elvis Presley, Sophia Loren, sequence of four - 1958
Katherine Ross & Dustin Hoffman - 1967 (Society Exclusive)
Big Jay McNeely drives the crowd wild - 1951
Ballet Theatre, David Lichine, Hollywood Bowl - 1952 (Society Exclusive)
Audrey Hepburn on camera crane - 1962
Marilyn Monroe, portrait in magenta dress - 1952
Dave Brubeck plays - 1954
Miles Davis backstage at The Shrine - 1950
Ray the Milkman - 1963 (Society Exclusive)
Dustin Hoffman & Anne Bancroft, forced perspective - 1967
Anne, reaching for the back door -1959 (Society Exclusive)
Gerry Mulligan directs - 1953
Mary Berliner - 1969 (Society Exclusive)
Billie Holiday at The Tiffany - 1952
Big Jay McNeely, Contact Sheet, Olympic Auditorium - 1951 (Society Exclusive)
Bonnie Patterson waits in the wings (Society Exclusive) - 1953
Paul Desmond listens to playback -1954
Doris Day & Rock Hudson, ad for Pillow Talk - 1959
Supayar - 1958 (Society Exclusive)
Al Bartee, drummer for Big Jay McNeely, Olympic Auditorium - 1951
Frank Sinatra, on the set of The Judy Garland TV Special - 1962
Judy Garland waits to go on stage - 1962
Patricia Whittle, full class, Royal Ballet - 1962 (Society Exclusive)
Jean Seberg, Central Park, Saint Joan - 1957
Sophia Loren, Paramount Wardrobe Department - 1958
Louis Armstrong, impromptu concert - 1956
Elizabeth Taylor on bed, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - 1965
Fiona Niche - 1979 (Society Exclusive)
Frank Sinatra, Sands Hotel sign, Ocean’s 11 - 1960
Virginia and Valeria by window - 1969
Rosso, Italian Painter, with wild cat - 1957 (Society Exclusive)
Pearl Baily & Herb Ross on the set of Carmen Jones - 1954 (Society Exclusive)
Brother Antoninus, Poet - 1960 (Society Exclusive)
Chairs in a Roman courtyard - 1957 (Society Exclusive)
Mia Farrow on the set of Rosemary’s Baby - 1967 (Society Exclusive)
Montgomery Clift on set of Raintree County - 1956
Marlon Brando rehearses with choreographer Michael Kidd for Guys & Dolls - 1955