One of the first female press photographers has died, aged 95, reports The Associated Press.

Mary Morris Lawrence joined The Associated Press in New York as a features photographer in 1936, at a time when there were few females at the agency.

She went on to shoot stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, her work appearing in magazines such as Life.

Her husband Harold, a former general manager of the London Symphony Orchestra, described his wife as a ‘pioneer’. ‘She prided herself, in her interviews, of being able to get a person’s life story in ten minutes,’ he told The Associated Press.

‘That journalist’s mind never left her even after she stopped taking pictures professionally,’ added goddaughter Libby Schaaf.

‘She was always digging for information, always trying to connect people with each other.’

For the full story see The Associated Press article HERE.