November 23, 2007
Photo of the week: LIFE Magazine Covers
Martin Fuchs
Various Covers from LIFE Magazine. From top left to bottom right: Cover from May 22, 1950 showing Duke and Dutchess of Windsor. © Philippe Halsman / Magnum Photos; Cover from January 15, 1955 showing a street scene in Moscow. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos; Cover from August 13, 1951 showing Martin and Lewis. © Philippe Halsman / Magnum Photos; Cover from April 7, 1952 showing Marylin Monroe. © Philippe Halsman / Magnum Photos; Cover from November 19, 1956 showing a wounded Egyptian in battle for Mideast. © Burt Glinn / Magnum Photos; Cover from January 18, 1943 showing Rita Hayworth. © Philippe Halsman / Magnum Photos; Halsman's first LIFE cover from October 5, 1942. © Philippe Halsman / Magnum Photos; Cover from November 15, 1954 showing Gina Lollobrigida. © David Seymour / Magnum Photos; Cover from May 15, 1944 showing General Montgomery. © George Rodger / Magnum Photos; Cover from March 15, 1963 showing Fidel Castro. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos; Cover from February 1, 1963 showing Alfred Hitchcock. © Philippe Halsman / Magnum Photos; Cover from February 13, 1950 showing a girl in Indonesia. © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos; Cover from August 18, 1961 showing Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. © Philippe Halsman / Magnum Photos
LIFE Magazine, created by TIME founder Henry Luce, published its first issue on November 23, 1936. That was exactly 71 years ago.
LIFE always set standards in photojournalism, until 1972 it was published weekly when it was unfortunately shut down. Six years later, in 1978 LIFE was published again. This time as a monthly magazine and according to Dirck Halstead, who wrote a very interesting article entitled The Last of LIFE, "it was a pale imitation of its former self". The monthly magazine was discontinued in 2000 only to be published again as a weekly newspaper supplement from 2004 to April 2007.
I did miss the glory days of LIFE magazine but its spirit and the work of some of the greatest photographers in the world who photographed for LIFE shall not be forgotten. This one goes out to the old LIFE magazine.
Published on the Magnum Blog on November 23, 2007
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