Synopses & Reviews
The Great LIFE Photographers is the most comprehensive anthology of LIFE photography ever published, featuring the best work of every staff photographer who worked for the famous magazine, and that of a handful of others who shot for LIFE. It was always the photographers who made LIFE great, and this is the most vivid and exciting portrait of those men and women that has ever been produced.
The book offers more than 100 portfolios including those of Alfred Eisenstaedt, Margaret Bourke-White, Carl Mydans, Gordon Parks, W. Eugene Smith, Robert Capa, Ralph Morse, Nina Leen, Harry Benson, Philippe Halsman, and Joe McNally, whose work for LIFE in the aftermath of September 11 was in the finest tradition of the magazine. Each portfolio includes a short biography, offering an intimate look at the people behind the lens.
Here are the defining moments of the 20th century, including MacArthur wading ashore by Mydans, Capa's D-Day landing at Omaha Beach and, of course, Eisenstaedt's sailor kissing the nurse. Here are the first pictures taken from inside the womb and the first taken from outer space. Here are powerful scenes from Tiananmen Square and from the American South during the Civil Rights movement. LIFE helped make icons of Sophia Loren and Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles and Michael Jackson, and those indelible photographs are here too.
This attractive new paperback edition is an affordable way to own some of the most memorable photographs ever made, stunningly reproduced in black and white and full color.
Review
A Good Morning America Best Coffee Table Book of the Season, Charles Gibson Selection, 2004
Review
I cannot recommend the LIFE collection highly enough. It intrigues and stimulates more than the sea of data that sweeps through our lives each day.--The Guardian
Review
Images such as one of the Beatles cavorting in a swimming pool are instantly recognizable, but less well-known photos, such as a 1952 shot of a roller-skating horse, are equally charming.--BusinessWeek
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The Great LIFE Photographers... depicts the evolution of photography from the early 1940s until the end of the 20th century. [It] is 600 pages from start to finish and will captivate and inspire any type of photographer.--TakeGreatPictures.com
Review
The Great LIFE Photographers features pictures by more than 200 of the century's best photojournalists on staff at the magazine throughout its history. But lesser-known works still retain enormous storytelling power decades later, attesting to the skill and artistry of photographers who placed themselves mere feet from the action to frame the shot.--BookPage
Review
A great gift.--The Art Quarterly
Synopsis
Showcasing both iconic and little-known images, this is the most comprehensive anthology of images by the great "LIFE" photographers ever assembled. 600 photos, many in color.
Synopsis
This book represents the work of every LIFE magazine staff photographer from the 20th century, as well as a handful of others closely affiliated with the magazine, including Alfred Eisenstadt, Margaret Bourke-White, Gordon Parks, Eugene Smith, and Joe McNally. THE GREAT LIFE PHOTOGRAPHERS presents the most iconic images of the past century, as well as little-known gems from the LIFE archives. Many of these images are markers of the major milestones of history--the first pictures from inside the womb or from outer space, Robert Capas falling soldier, and memorable scenes from Tiananmen Square. Defining celebrity portraits of Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles, and Michael Jackson are also featured. This startingly rich collection of both color and black-and-white photographs is a vivid fulfillment of Henry Luces charge: To see life; to see the world....To be amazed
About the Author
LIFE magazine was founded by Henry Luce in 1936 and chronicled every aspect of the human condition through the end of the 20th century.
Gordon Parks (1912-2006) was one of the early Life photographers and among the most esteemed photographers of our time. He was also an acclaimed poet, filmmaker and composer who published several books with Bulfinch, including the acclaimed Half Past Autumn (1997).
John Loengard is a veteran LIFE photographer and a chronicler of LIFE's illustrious history. He received the Henry Luce Lifetime Achievement Award for 2004 from Time, Inc.