But how did they make them in the first place? It's accepted wisdom that the images of stars and starlets were carefully crafted and controlled by the studio system, with the aid of a compliant press, but that doesn't really explain why a small number of stars transcended their time and their work to become lasting symbols. The photographs of Ruth Harriet Louise, currently on display at the Terra Museum, don't hold the answers, but offer a rare opportunity to intensively study the process of starmaking. In the late 1920s, when she was only in her twenties, Louise had an extraordinary, if short, career as the portrait photographer at the newly formed MGM. In eighty vintage prints, we see the mostly forgotten likes of silent screen gods and goddesses--Lillian Gish, John Gilbert, Roman Novarro.

And then there's Garbo. Louise was there when Garbo came to Hollywood, and became the photographer who helped shape her image. Louise photographed Garbo repeatedly during this time period, and her photos at the Terra offer a singular opportunity to study the evolution of an icon-in-the-making. The brooding European enigmatic beauty captured for eternity by Edward Steichen in Vanity Fair showed up for her first session at MGM looking like just another showgirl. But it didn't take long for Louis B. Mayer and company to figure out they had something special--by her second MGM film, just months later, Louise was already capturing the essence of this mysterious leading lady.

Louise proved a masterful image-maker for young starlets, many of whom were about her age. Ironically, however, her career came to an early end, when she was eased out in favor of George Hurrell, who had the fortunate opportunity to shoot Norma Shearer in a most favorable way. In what became a signature technique, he worked wonders, not only with fashion, makeup and lighting, but also with the retouch, which he used to render Shearer (also known as Mrs. Irving Thalberg, wife of MGM's chief producer) as a sensuous seductress.

"Ruth Harriet Louise and Hollywood Glamour Photography" runs through July 7 at the Terra Museum of American Art, 664 North Michigan, (312)664-3939.

See these other American Icons stories:
American Icons: Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly
Glam Sham: The changing shape of icons
Living Large: Existing outside the popular image of woman