Life: The Platinum Anniversary Collection: 70 Years of Extraordinary Photography

From Publishers Weekly

The brainchild of Henry Luce, owner of Time and Fortune, Life magazine was formed in 1936 and quickly became one of the most influential publications of the 20th century. Its original mandate, in the words of Luce, was “to see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events,” and as such it brought extraordinary images from around the world into American households. This collection, a 70-year retrospective, presents a history in photos, highlighting the most famous, moving and beautiful pictures from the magazine, including classics by Alfred Eisenstaedt, Dorothea Lange, Margaret Bourke-White, and Irving Penn. Divided into sections covering the presidency, Hollywood, war, science and nature, culture, sport and “fun,” this volume packs in a huge assortment of subjects and emotions. Of particular interest is the chapter of “Photo Essays,” a pioneering Life feature that revolutionized the field of photojournalism, capturing stories through image sequences and small blurbs; included are provocative stories such as the plight of German refugees in 1945, Heroin use in the ’60s and Larry Burrows’ intimate portrait of the Vietnam war, which has been called “the greatest photo essay ever made.” In honor of its legacy, the Platinum Anniversary Collection closes with a short annex of every magazine cover from the magazine’s long, illustrious life.Copyright 漏 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Photojournalism probably wouldn’t have exploded into public consciousness as it did had Henry Luce not given Time and Fortune a sibling, the pictorial weekly Life. The November 23, 1936, first issue contained a sterling example (well sampled herein) by Margaret Bourke-White of what would become a Life staple, the photo-essay. The magazine really caught on when World War II began. At its 1940s-early 1960s acme, Life may have been read by one-third of all American households; the distinction of its photos ensured that many more would see its wares reproduced in books, exhibitions, and other media. This survey cherry-picks Life’s seven decades for chapters on the presidency, the photo-essay, Hollywood, war, science and nature, sports, “Our Culture, Our World,” and people having fun. If many of the photographers’ names are famous, several of the pictures are so well known that they have become icons of their times and events, such as “The Picture” (sailor kisses girl in Times Square on V-J Day). No matter how many times they are repackaged–indispensable images. Ray OlsonCopyright 漏 American Library Association. All rights reserved

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