Life Magazine

First comprehensive look at the magazine's innovative and influential contribution Life to the History of Photography From the Great Depression to the World War Vietnam, the vast majority of photographs printed and consumed in United States were featured on the pages of illustrated magazines. Featuring in-depth examination of the photographs featured in Life magazine throughout Throughout its weekly edition from 1936 to 1972, this work examines how the magazine's use of images profoundly shaped the idea modern photography in the United States. The works of famous photographers and neglected, including Margaret Bourke-White, Larry Burrows, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Frank Dandridge, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Fritz Goro, Gordon Parks and W. Eugene Smith, are explored in the context of editorial structures at Life. Contributions from 25 specialists from various fields, ranging from art history to American studies, allow us to understand how the photographs published in Life - used to promote a perspective dominant white and middle class - have come to play a role in the cultural dialogues in the United States. States around war, race, technology, art and national identity. Leveraging unrestricted access previous to the Life magazine photo and paper archives, as well as to the archives photographers, this richly illustrated volume presents unpublished documents, such as caption files, contact sheets and scripts filming, which shed new light on the collaborative process now iconic images and photographic essays.