Photographs and Photo Albums as a Symbol in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Introduction

Throughout Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, photographs and photo albums recur as a concrete motif that embodies memory, identity, and the constructed nature of personal history. The novel presents two distinct kinds of photographic objects: the glossy, curated images of celebrity life published in tabloid “PhotoMoment” columns, and the private, often candid photo albums that belong to family members. Together, they raise questions about who controls a life’s narrative—the public, the press, or the individual—and how a photograph can conceal as much as it reveals.

Literal Occurrences of the Symbol

Photographs appear in several key forms across the novel:

• Public PhotoMoment articles: The novel intersperses tabloid pages such as “PhotoMoment: August 14, 1967” (chapter 54), which announces Evelyn’s wedding to Harry Cameron, and “PhotoMoment: November 2, 1959” (chapter 23), which depicts Evelyn and Celia as “best friends.” These snippets present a polished, often misleading version of events.
• Monique’s father’s photo albums: In chapter 14, Monique receives a heavy box from her mother containing her deceased father’s photo albums. The albums are embossed with “James Grant” and hold on-set stills, candids, and a final picture of Monique as a toddler with both parents.
• The final photoshoot: In chapter 97, Monique’s article “Evelyn and Me” refers to “the stunning photos taken just hours before her death.” These photos become the last public images of Evelyn, intentionally revealing her true identity.

How the Meaning of Photographs Changes

The meaning of photographs shifts depending on who holds the camera and who controls the distribution.

At the start, public photographs are an instrument of fame and manipulation. The PhotoMoment articles frame Evelyn’s life for mass consumption—for example, the caption “Green’s Not Your Color” (chapter 31) insinuates jealousy, whereas the private reality is that Evelyn avoided Celia to protect their hidden relationship. These images create a celebrity narrative that Evelyn herself cannot fully control, though she participates in staging it.

Monique’s father’s photo albums represent the opposite: an authentic, loving archive. The candids capture unguarded moments—a barbecue, a child eating cake—and preserve a family bond that was fractured by his early death. For Monique, the albums serve as a tangible link to her father’s advice: “find a job that makes your heart feel big.” She also learns that her name Monique was a gift from her father, a truth stored in a photograph.

By the novel’s end, Evelyn reclaims the power of the photograph. The pictures taken before her death are not staged for a scandal but are deliberately truthful. Monique writes that Evelyn “was finally ready to be real,” and the photos accompany that revelation. The symbol thus evolves from a tool of public deception to a vessel for private truth.

Character Connections

Monique Grant — Her relationship with photographs is deeply personal. The albums from her father are an inheritance of memory and love. They hold a portrait of her parents together, a rare image of a white mother and Black father who struggled to find acceptance. This photo reinforces Monique’s identity and her decision to change her name from Elizabeth to Monique. Later, she uses her father’s example of pursuing passionate work as a guide for her own career—a career that leads her to Evelyn.

Evelyn Hugo — Evelyn exists in a world where her image is constantly manufactured and consumed. She has been photographed by paparazzi, studio publicists, and tabloid reporters. Yet she also retains agency: she chooses to grant an exclusive interview to Monique, and she orchestrates the final photoshoot to show her bisexuality and her love for Celia. The photographs become her final statement, one that Monique calls “perhaps her greatest political act.”

Celia St. James — Celia appears in many PhotoMoment shots, but always in a sanitized context—as a “best friend” or a “female friend” of Evelyn. The photographs never show the truth of their romance. It is only in the aftermath of Evelyn’s death that Monique’s article and photographs reveal the real relationship.

Theme Connections

Study Questions and Answers

1. How do the PhotoMoment articles differ from the private photo albums in the novel?

The PhotoMoment articles are public, curated snapshots designed to entertain and often mislead. They emphasize glamour, scandal, and surface-level details, such as the color of a dress or the presence of a date. In contrast, the private photo albums—especially those of Monique’s father—are intimate, candid, and cherished. They preserve genuine emotions and family bonds, like the toddler photo of Monique with her parents. While PhotoMoment images contribute to Evelyn’s legend, the private albums build an emotional truth that shapes Monique’s identity.

2. What is the significance of Monique receiving her father’s photo albums?

The albums arrive at a moment when Monique is contemplating her career and her past. They contain a photograph of her as a child with both parents, which reminds her that her father gave her the name Monique—a “gift” that became her official name after his death. The albums also include her father’s on-set stills, reflecting his love for photography. This inheritance steers Monique toward her own purpose: writing about real people. She recalls her father’s advice to find work that “makes your heart feel big,” a principle that drives her to take on Evelyn’s story.

3. In what way do the photos taken hours before Evelyn’s death represent a shift in her relationship with her public image?

Throughout her life, Evelyn carefully curated her image to protect her bisexuality and her love for Celia. She allowed tabloids to photograph her numerous weddings and red-carpet appearances while hiding the most important part of her identity. The final photoshoot, mentioned in chapter 97, is the first time she permits an unvarnished representation: she is old, she is truthful about whom she loved, and she is willing to be seen as her real self. These photos shift the symbol from concealment to revelation, fulfilling her goal that the “truth” be her legacy.

4. How does the motif of photographs relate to the theme of identity and reinvention in the novel?

Public photographs support the theme of reinvention by documenting Evelyn’s many changes—from Cuban immigrant to blond starlet, from wife to producer. Each PhotoMoment article presents a new version of her. Yet the private photo albums demonstrate that identity also has a core. Monique’s albums reveal a stable self: she is always her father’s daughter, even as she grows professionally. For Evelyn, the final photos are her last reinvention: a woman no longer hiding, finally authentic. The motif thus shows that identity is both performed and discovered, captured in images that can either obscure or illuminate the truth.