Life Magazine: The Photos that Defined the US
Aida Amoako, BBC
March 2020
When Life magazine launched on 23 November 1936, its mission, as stated by its creator Henry Luce, was to enable the American public “to see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events … to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed…” For the 36 years that marked its golden age, the US weekly informed the country’s views on politics, war, race and national identity through images. With its cohort of star photographers such as Gordon Parks, Margaret Bourke-White and Alfred Eisenstadt, Life helped pioneer US photojournalism. Many of the photographs became iconic works of art in their own right, helping to shape our global collective memory of the 20th Century. […]