Life (magazine)

{{Short description|American magazine}}
{{distinguish|Life (journal)}}
{{more citations needed|date = July 2022}}
{{Infobox magazine
| title = Life
| logo = LIFE magazine logo.svg
| image_file = Life 1911 09 21 a.jpg
| image_size =
| image_caption = A cover of ''Life'' magazine in 1911
| editor = [[George Cary Eggleston]]
| editor_title = Editor
| previous_editor = [[Robert E. Sherwood]]
| staff_writer = 
| frequency = Weekly
| total_circulation = 250,000
| circulation_year = 1920
| category = [[Humor]], general interest
| company = 
| publisher = [[Clair Maxwell]] (1921–1942)
| firstdate = {{start date and age|1883|1|4}}<br/>{{start date and age|2008|11|18}} (online supplement)
| country = United States
| based = [[New York City]], U.S.
| lastdate = {{end date|2000}} (print)
| language = English
| website = {{official URL}}
| issn = 0024-3019
}}

'''''Life''''' is an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, a monthly from 1978 until 2000, and an online supplement since 2008.<ref name="google" /> During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest magazine known for the quality of its [[photography]], and was one of the nation's most popular magazines, regularly reaching one-quarter of the population.<ref>Sebastian Smee, "In Life, as in art, every picture has stories to tell", ''The Washington Post'', October 23, 2022, p. E12.</ref>

''Life'' was published independently for its first 53 years until 1936 as a general-interest and [[light entertainment]] magazine, heavy on illustrations, jokes, and social commentary. It featured some of the most important writers, editors, illustrators and cartoonists of its time, including [[Charles Dana Gibson]], [[Norman Rockwell]], and others. In 1918, Gibson became the magazine's editor following the death of [[John Ames Mitchell]], its owner and editor. During its later years, the magazine offered brief capsule reviews, similar to those in ''[[The New Yorker]]'', of plays and movies running in [[New York City]], but with the innovative touch of a colored typographic bullet resembling a traffic light, appended to each review: green for a positive review, red for a negative one, and amber for mixed notices.

In 1936, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' publisher [[Henry Luce]] bought ''Life'' solely for its title, and greatly redesigned the publication. ''LIFE'' (stylized in [[all caps]]) became the first all-photographic American news magazine, and it dominated the market for several decades, with a circulation peaking at over 13.5 million copies a week. One striking image published in the magazine was [[Alfred Eisenstaedt]]'s [[V-J Day in Times Square|photograph of a nurse in a sailor's arms]], taken on August 14, 1945, during a [[Victory over Japan Day|VJ-Day]] celebration in New York's [[Times Square]]. The magazine's role in the history of photojournalism is considered its most important contribution to publishing. Its prestige attracted the [[memoir]]s of President [[Harry S. Truman]], Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], and General [[Douglas MacArthur]], all serialized in its pages.

After 2000, [[Time Inc.]] continued to use the ''Life'' brand for special and commemorative issues. ''Life'' returned to regularly scheduled issues as a weekly newspaper supplement from 2004 to 2007.<ref name="timetoclose">{{cite press release |title=Time Inc. to Close Life Magazine Newspaper Supplement |publisher=Time Warner |date=March 26, 2007 |url=https://www.warnermediagroup.com/newsroom/press-releases/2007/03/26/time-inc-to-close-life-magazine-newspaper-supplement |archive-date=January 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105133059/http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1602884,00.html}}</ref> The website life.com, originally one of the channels on Time Inc.'s [[Pathfinder (website)|Pathfinder]] service, was for a time in the late 2000s managed as a joint venture with [[Getty Images]] under the name ''See Your World, LLC''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Time Inc. And Getty Images Team Up To Renew Life Title|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/23/time-inc-and-getty-images_n_128533.html|author=Keith J. Kelly|date=23 September 2008|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080925171910/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/23/time-inc-and-getty-images_n_128533.html|archive-date=2008-09-25|access-date=8 October 2013}}</ref>

On January 30, 2012, the Life.com URL became a photo channel on Time.com.{{clarify|date=August 2013}}<ref name="timetoclose"/><ref name="usatoday">{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2007-03-26-life-end-online_N.htm |title=End comes again for 'Life', but all its photos going on the Web |date=March 26, 2007 |work=[[USA Today]]}}</ref>

==History==
===19th century===
{{more citations needed section|date=June 2023}}
[[File:Coles Phillips2 Life.jpg|thumb|Cover art by [[Coles Phillips]] in the magazine's January 27, 1910 edition]]
[[File:LIFEMagazine24Jan1924.jpg|thumb|The cover of the magazine's January 24, 1924 issue]]
''Life'' was founded on January 4, 1883, in a [[New York City]] artist's studio at 1155 [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]], as a partnership between [[John Ames Mitchell]] and [[Andrew Miller (publisher)|Andrew Miller]]. Mitchell held a 75% interest in the magazine with the remaining 25% held by Miller. Both men retained their holdings until their deaths.<ref>{{cite web |title=Full text of "The miscellaneous reports: cases decided in the inferior courts of record of the state of New York" |url=https://archive.org/stream/miscellaneousre11yorkgoog/miscellaneousre11yorkgoog_djvu.txt |year=1892 |access-date=2012-01-15}}</ref> Miller served as secretary-treasurer of the magazine and managed the business side of the operation. Mitchell, a 37-year-old illustrator who used a $10,000 inheritance to invest in the weekly magazine, served as its publisher. He also created the first ''Life'' name-plate with [[cupid]]s as mascots and later on, drew its masthead of a knight leveling his lance at the posterior of a fleeing devil. Then he took advantage of a new printing process using zinc-coated plates, which improved the reproduction of his illustrations and artwork. This edge helped because ''Life'' faced stiff competition from the best-selling humor magazines ''[[Judge (magazine)|Judge]]'' and ''[[Puck (magazine)|Puck]]'', which were already established and successful. [[Edward Sandford Martin]] was brought on as ''Life''{{'}}s first literary editor; the recent [[Harvard University]] graduate was a founder of the ''[[Harvard Lampoon]]''.

The motto of the first issue of ''Life'' was: "While there's Life, there's hope."<ref name="Alive"/> The new magazine set forth its principles and policies to its readers:

<blockquote>We wish to have some fun in this paper...We shall try to domesticate as much as possible of the casual cheerfulness that is drifting about in an unfriendly world...We shall have something to say about religion, about politics, fashion, society, literature, the stage, the stock exchange, and the police station, and we will speak out what is in our mind as fairly, as truthfully, and as decently as we know how.<ref name="Alive">{{cite magazine|date=October 19, 1936|title=Life: Dead & Alive|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,756798,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110127201828/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,756798,00.html|archive-date=January 27, 2011|url-status=dead|magazine=TIME}}</ref></blockquote>

The magazine was a success and soon attracted the industry's leading contributors,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/search_list.php?search=Life_Magazine|title=Old Magazine Articles|website=www.oldmagazinearticles.com}}</ref> of which the most important was [[Charles Dana Gibson]]. Three years after the magazine was founded, the [[Massachusetts]] native first sold ''Life'' a drawing for $4: a dog outside his kennel howling at the Moon. Encouraged by a publisher, also an artist, Gibson was joined at ''Life'' by illustrators [[Palmer Cox]], creator of the [[Brownie (elf)|Brownie]], [[A. B. Frost]], [[Oliver Herford]], and [[E. W. Kemble]]. ''Life''{{'}}s literary roster included [[John Kendrick Bangs]], [[James Whitcomb Riley]], and [[Brander Matthews]].

===20th century===
[[File:LifeFlapper1922.jpg|thumb|''The [[Flapper]]'', a magazine cover in 1922 by F. X. Leyendecker]]

Mitchell was accused of [[anti-Semitism]] at a time of high rates of immigration to New York of Eastern European [[Jews]]. When the magazine blamed the theatrical team of [[Klaw & Erlanger]] for [[Chicago]]'s [[Iroquois Theater Fire]] in 1903, many people complained. ''Life''{{'s}} drama critic, [[James Stetson Metcalfe]], was barred from the 47 Manhattan theatres controlled by the [[Theatrical Syndicate]]. ''Life'' published caricatures of Jews with large noses.

Several individuals would publish their first major works in ''Life''. In 1908 [[Robert Ripley]] published his first cartoon in ''Life'', 20 years before his ''[[Ripley's Believe It or Not!|Believe It or Not!]]'' fame. [[Norman Rockwell]]'s first cover for ''Life'' magazine, ''Tain't You'', was published May 10, 1917. His paintings were featured on ''Life''{{'s}} cover 28 times between 1917 and 1924. [[Rea Irvin]], the first art director of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' and creator of the character "[[Eustace Tilley]]", began his career by drawing covers for ''Life''.

This version of ''Life'' took sides in politics and international affairs, and published pro-American editorials. After [[Germany]] attacked [[Belgium]] in 1914, Mitchell and Gibson undertook a campaign to push the U.S. into the war. Gibson drew the [[Kaiser]] as a bloody madman, insulting [[Uncle Sam]], sneering at crippled soldiers, and shooting [[Red Cross]] nurses.

Following Mitchell's death in 1918, Gibson bought the magazine for $1 million, but the end of [[World War I]] had brought on social change. ''Life''{{'s}} brand of humor was outdated, as readers wanted more daring and risque works, and ''Life'' struggled to compete. A little more than three years after purchasing ''Life'', Gibson quit and turned the decaying property over to publisher [[Clair Maxwell]] and treasurer Henry Richter. Gibson retired and relocated to Maine, where he painted and lost interest in the magazine.

In 1920, Gibson selected former ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' staffer [[Robert E. Sherwood]] as editor. A [[World War I|WWI]] veteran and member of the [[Algonquin Round Table]], Sherwood tried to inject sophisticated humor onto the pages. ''Life'' published [[Ivy League]] jokes, cartoons, [[flapper]] sayings and all-burlesque issues. Beginning in 1920, ''Life'' undertook a crusade against [[Prohibition]]. It also tapped the humorous writings of [[Frank Sullivan (writer)|Frank Sullivan]], [[Robert Benchley]], [[Dorothy Parker]], [[Franklin Pierce Adams]] and [[Corey Ford]]. Among the illustrators and cartoonists were [[Ralph Barton]], [[Percy Crosby]], [[Don Herold]], [[Ellison Hoover]], [[H. T. Webster]], [[Art Young]] and [[John Held, Jr.]]

''Life'' had 250,000 readers in 1920,{{citation needed|date=January 2012}} but as the [[Jazz Age]] rolled into the [[Great Depression]], the magazine lost money and subscribers. By the time Maxwell and editor [[George Eggleston]] took over, ''Life'' had switched from publishing weekly to monthly. The two men went to work revamping its editorial style to meet the times, which resulted in improved readership. However, ''Life'' had passed its prime and was sliding toward financial ruin. ''[[The New Yorker]]'', debuting in February 1925, copied many of the features and styles of ''Life''; it recruited staff from its editorial and art departments.{{Original research inline|date=April 2021}} Another blow to ''Life''{{'s}} circulation came from raunchy humor periodicals such as ''[[Ballyhoo (magazine)|Ballyhoo]]'' and ''[[Hooey]]'', which ran what can be termed "[[outhouse]]" gags. In 1933, ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' joined ''Life''{{'s}} competitors. In its final years, ''Life'' struggled to make a profit.

Announcing the end of ''Life'', Maxwell stated: "We cannot claim, like Mr. [[Gene Tunney]], that we resigned our championship undefeated in our prime. But at least we hope to retire gracefully from a world still friendly."{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}

For ''Life''{{'s}} final issue in its original format, 80-year-old Edward Sandford Martin was recalled from editorial retirement to compose its obituary. He wrote:

<blockquote>That ''Life'' should be passing into the hands of new owners and directors is of the liveliest interest to the sole survivor of the little group that saw it born in January 1883 ... As for me, I wish it all good fortune; grace, mercy and peace and usefulness to a distracted world that does not know which way to turn nor what will happen to it next. A wonderful time for a new voice to make a noise that needs to be heard!<ref name="Alive" /></blockquote>

====Weekly news magazine====
{{Infobox magazine
| title = Life
| image_file = LIFE 06191944 Eisenhower cover.jpg
| image_size = 220px
| image_caption = Cover of the June 19, 1944, issue of ''Life'' with Gen. [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]. The issue contained 10 frames by [[Robert Capa]] of the Normandy invasion.
| editor = [[Edward Kramer Thompson]]
| editor_title = Editor-in-chief
| previous_editor = 
| staff_writer = 
| frequency = Weekly (1936–1972)<br />Monthly (1978–2000)
| total_circulation = 1,000,000
| circulation_year = 1937
| category = [[News]]
| company = [[Time Inc.]]
| publisher = [[Henry Luce]]
| firstdate = {{start date and age|1936|11|23}}
| country = United States
| based = New York City, New York, U.S.
| lastdate = {{start date|2000|5}} (print)
| language = English
| website = {{URL|www.life.com}}
| issn = 0024-3019
}}
[[File:Herald Square Hotel jeh.JPG|thumb|19 West 31st Street]]
[[File:Tito Life Magazine.jpg|thumb|Cover of the September 13, 1948, issue featuring [[Josip Broz Tito]]]]
[[File:Henri Huet, LIFE cover, 110266.jpg|thumb|[[Henri Huet]]'s photograph of Thomas Cole on the cover of the February 11, 1966 issue]]
[[File:LifeMagazine1966LSD.jpg|thumb|Cover of March 25, 1966 issue with the feature story on [[LSD]]]] 
[[File:Prenumeration - Subscription - LIFE 1970.jpg|thumb|A subscription offer from ''Life''  in 1970. The U.S. price was then $2.55 for 19 issues.]]

In 1936, publisher [[Henry Luce]] purchased ''Life'' magazine for [[US$]]92,000 {{USDCY|92000|1936}} because he wanted the name for his company, [[Time Inc.]], to use. Time Inc. sold ''Life''{{'s}} subscription list, features, and {{clarify|text=goodwill|reason=[[Goodwill (accounting)]] can't be sold|date=October 2023}} to ''[[Judge (magazine)|Judge]]''. Convinced that pictures could tell a story instead of just illustrating text, Luce launched the new ''Life'' on November 23, 1936, with [[John Shaw Billings (editor)|John Shaw Billings]] and [[Daniel Longwell]] as founding editors.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title=Daniel Longwell, a Founder of Life; Chairman of Editors' Board Until 1954 Dies at 69| work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/11/22/77427429.html?pageNumber=47|access-date=2021-08-28|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_kcEAAAAMBAJ&dq=daniel+longwell+life+magazine&pg=PA13 |title=Life |date=1953-08-10 |publisher=Time Inc |language=en}}</ref> The third magazine published by Luce, after ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' in 1923 and [[Fortune (magazine)|''Fortune'']] in 1930, ''Life'' developed as the definitive photo magazine in the U.S., giving as much space and importance to images as to words. The first issue of ''Life'', which sold for ten cents (worth ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|0.10|1936|r=2}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}), had five pages of Alfred Eisenstaedt's photographs.

In planning the weekly news magazine, Luce circulated a confidential prospectus<ref>{{cite web|url=https://life.tumblr.com/post/17551327132/to-see-life-to-see-the-world-to-eyewitness|title= Life: A Prospectus for a New Magazine|website=life.tumblr.com}}</ref> within Time Inc. in 1936, which described his vision for the new ''Life'' magazine, and what he viewed as its unique purpose. ''Life'' magazine was to be the first publication, with a focus on photographs, that enabled the American public,

<blockquote>To see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things—machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the moon; to see man's work—his paintings, towers and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to; the women that men love and many children; to see and take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed...
:—Prospectus for a New Magazine<ref name = Smee>Sebastian Smee, "In Life, as in art, every picture had stories to tell", ''The Washington Post'', October 23, 2022, p. E12.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160306080711/http://time.com/3875143/life-in-2012-the-year-in-12-galleries/ Life in 2012: The Year in 12 Galleries]. Retrieved September 24, 2015</ref></blockquote>

Luce's first issue cover depicted the [[Fort Peck Dam]] in [[Montana]], a [[Works Progress Administration]] project, photographed by [[Margaret Bourke-White]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Very First Issues of 19 Famous Magazines|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/50299/very-first-issues-19-famous-magazines|last=French|first=Alex|work=[[Mental Floss]]|date=9 August 2013|access-date=12 August 2013}}</ref>

The format of ''Life'' in 1936 was a success: the text was condensed into captions for 50 pages of photographs. The magazine was printed on heavily [[coated paper]] and cost readers only a dime {{USDCY|0.10|1936}}. The magazine's circulation was beyond the company's predictions, going from 380,000 copies of the first issue to more than one million a week four months later.<ref>"[http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,930895,00.html Pictorial to Sleep]", ''Time'', March 8, 1937.</ref> It soon challenged ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]'', then the largest-circulation weekly in the country. The magazine's success stimulated many imitators, such as ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'', which was founded a year later in 1937 and ran until 1971.{{citation needed|date = July 2022}}

Luce moved ''Life'' into its own building at 19 West 31st Street, a [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] building constructed in 1894. Later ''Life'' moved its editorial offices to 9 [[Rockefeller Plaza]].{{Citation needed|date = October 2022}}

A co-founder of the new ''Life'' magazine, Longwell served as managing editor from 1944 to 1946 and chairman of the board of editors until his retirement in 1954.<ref name=":0" /> He was credited for publishing [[Winston Churchill]]'s [[The Second World War (book series)|''The Second World War'']] and [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s ''[[The Old Man and the Sea]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wainwright|first=Loudon|title=The Great American Magazine: An Inside History of Life |publisher=Knopf|year=1986|isbn=0394459873|location=New York|pages=106}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Dunlap|first=David W.|date=2016-08-11|title=1948-1953 {{!}} Have a Few Years to Curl Up With a Book?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/insider/1948-1953-have-a-few-years-to-curl-up-with-a-book.html|access-date=2021-08-28|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last1=Kale|first1=Verna|title=Correspondence and the Everyday Hemingway|date=2020|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/new-hemingway-studies/correspondence-and-the-everyday-hemingway/58CD1891726807774A2985D6358F94C3|work=The New Hemingway Studies|pages=47–62|editor-last=Curnutt|editor-first=Kirk|series=Twenty-First-Century Critical Revisions|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-49484-7|access-date=2021-08-28|last2=Spanier|first2=Sandra|editor2-last=del Gizzo|editor2-first=Suzanne}}</ref>

Luce also selected [[Edward Kramer Thompson]], a [[stringer (journalism)|stringer]] for ''Time'', as assistant picture editor in 1937. From 1949 to 1961 he was the managing editor, and served as editor-in-chief for nearly a decade, until his retirement in 1970. His influence was significant during the magazine's heyday, which was roughly from 1936 until the mid-1960s. Thompson was known for the free rein he gave his editors, particularly a "trio of formidable and colorful women: [[Sally Kirkland (editor)|Sally Kirkland]], fashion editor; Mary Letherbee, movie editor; and [[Mary Hamman]], modern living editor."<ref>Dora Jane Hamblin, ''That Was the 'Life', '' New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1977, p. 161.</ref>

When the U.S. entered [[World War II]] in 1941, ''Life'' covered the war closely. By 1944, of the 40 ''Time'' and ''Life'' war correspondents, seven were women: Americans [[Mary Welsh Hemingway]], [[Margaret Bourke-White]], Lael Tucker, Peggy Durdin, [[Shelley Smith Mydans]], Annalee Jacoby, and Jacqueline Saix, an Englishwoman. (Saix's name is often omitted from the list, but she and Welsh are the only women listed as part of the magazine's team in a ''Times''{{'s}} publisher's letter, dated May 8, 1944.)<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Prentice|first=P.I.|date=8 May 1944|title=A Letter From The Publisher|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,933313,00.html|magazine=Time|page=11}}</ref>

''Life'' backed the war effort each week. In July 1942, ''Life'' launched its first art contest for soldiers and drew more than 1,500 entries, submitted by all ranks. Judges sorted out the best and awarded $1,000 in prizes. ''Life'' picked 16 for reproduction in the magazine. The [[National Gallery of Art|National Gallery]] in Washington, D.C. agreed to put 117 entries on exhibition that summer. ''Life'', also supported the military's efforts to use artists to document the war. When Congress forbade the armed forces from using government money to fund artists in the field, ''Life'' privatized the programs, hiring many of the artists being let go by the [[United States Department of War|Department of War]] (which would later become the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]). On December 7, 1960, ''Life'' managers later donated many of the works by such artists to the Department of War and its art programs, such as the [[United States Army Art Program]].<ref name="mcnoughten">{{cite book|author=Marian R. McNoughten|title=A Guide to the Stude and Use of Military History|chapter=The Army Art Program|chapter-url=http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/download/csipubs/jessup/jessup_ch14.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507123129/http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/download/csipubs/jessup/jessup_ch14.pdf|archive-date=May 7, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Each week during World War II, the magazine brought photographs of the war to Americans; it had photographers from all theaters of war. The magazine was imitated in enemy [[propaganda]] using contrasting images of ''Life'' and ''Death''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Life and Death propaganda|url=http://www.psywar.org/product_NZAI-145-10-44-F.php|date=March 30, 2011|work=Psywar|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703153058/http://www.psywar.org/product_NZAI-145-10-44-F.php|archive-date=July 3, 2010|access-date=September 25, 2014}}</ref>

In August 1942, writing about labor and racial unrest in [[Detroit]], ''Life'' warned that "the morale situation is perhaps the worst in the U.S. ... It is time for the rest of the country to sit up and take notice. For Detroit can either blow up [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] or it can blow up the U.S."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v04EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15|title=Detroit is Dynamite|magazine=Life|date=August 17, 1942|access-date=November 20, 2011|page=15}}</ref> Mayor [[Edward Jeffries]] was outraged: "I'll match Detroit's patriotism against any other city's in the country. The whole story in ''Life'' is scurrilous ... I'd just call it a [[yellow journalism|yellow magazine]] and let it go at that."<ref>Mansfield (Ohio) ''News Journal'', August 17, 1942.</ref> The article was considered so dangerous to the war effort that it was [[Censorship in the United States#Wartime censorship|censored]] from copies of the magazine sold outside North America.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rU4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12|title=Letters to the Editor | magazine=Life | date=September 7, 1942|access-date=November 20, 2011|page=12}}</ref>
<!-- Commented out: [[File:American dead buna beach.png|thumb|left|upright|Three American soldiers dead on [[Battle of Buna–Gona|Buna Beach]]. The photo was taken by George Strock on 31 December 1942<ref>{{cite news|last=Thompson|first=Mark|title=Cal Whipple, 1918-2013|url=http://nation.time.com/2013/03/27/cal-whipple-1918-2013/|access-date=October 19, 2013|newspaper=Time|date=March 27, 2013}}</ref> though some accounts state February 1943, a month after the battle was over. ''Life'' published it on 20 September 1943. It was the first time a photograph of dead American troops had been published in the United States during World War II without the bodies being draped, in coffins, or otherwise covered up. This and other graphic photos were given approval by the [[Office of War Information]]'s censors, in part because President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] feared that the American public was becoming complacent about the war.]] -->

The magazine hired war photographer [[Robert Capa]] in July 1943 to cover the Sicilian and Italian campaigns. A veteran of ''[[Collier's Weekly|Collier's]]'' magazine, Capa accompanied the first wave of the [[D-Day]] invasion in [[Normandy, France]], on June 6, 1944, and returned with only a handful of images, many of them out of focus. The magazine wrote in the captions that the photos were fuzzy because Capa's hands were shaking. He denied it, claiming that the darkroom had ruined his negatives. Later he poked fun at ''Life'' by titling his war memoir ''Slightly Out of Focus'' (1947). In 1954, Capa was killed after stepping on a [[landmine|land mine]], while working for the magazine covering the [[First Indochina War]]. ''Life'' photographer Bob Landry also went in with the first wave at D-Day, "but ''all'' of Landry's film was lost, and his shoes to boot."<ref>''The Great Life Photographers'', Thames and Hudson, paperback ed. 2009, {{ISBN|978-0-500-28836-8}}, p. 294</ref>

In a notable mistake, in its final edition just before the [[1948 United States presidential election|1948 U.S. presidential election]], the magazine printed a large photo showing U.S. presidential candidate [[Thomas E. Dewey]] and his staff riding across [[San Francisco]], [[California]] harbor entitled "Our Next President Rides by Ferryboat over [[San Francisco Bay]]". Incumbent President [[Harry S. Truman]] won the election.<ref>Abels, Jules, ''Out of the Jaws of Victory'', New York: Henry Holt and Company (1959), p. 261.</ref> Dewey was expected to win the election, and this mistake [[Dewey Defeats Truman|was also made]] by the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''.{{Citation needed|date = October 2022}}

On May 10, 1950, the council of ministers in [[Cairo]] banned ''Life'' from Egypt forever. All issues on sale were confiscated. No reason was given, but Egyptian officials expressed indignation over the April 10, 1950 story about [[King Farouk]] of Egypt, entitled the "Problem King of Egypt". The government considered it insulting to the country.<ref>{{cite web|title=Life magazine is banned in Egypt after publishing an unflattering article about King Farouk|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/life-magazine-banned-egypt-after-publishing-unflattering-article-about-king-farouk|work=South African History Online|access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref>

''Life'' in the 1950s earned a measure of respect by commissioning work from top authors.{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}} After ''Life''{{'s}} publication in 1952 of [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s ''[[The Old Man and the Sea]]'', the magazine contracted with the author for a 4,000-word piece on bullfighting. Hemingway sent the editors a 10,000-word article, following his last visit to Spain in 1959 to cover a series of contests between two top [[Torero (bullfighter)|matadors]]. The article was republished in 1985 as the novella, ''[[The Dangerous Summer]]''.<ref>Michael Palin, "Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure", ''PBS'', 1999.</ref>

In February 1953, just a few weeks after leaving office, President Harry S. Truman announced that ''Life'' magazine would handle all rights to his memoirs. Truman said it was his belief that by 1954 he would be able to speak more fully on subjects pertaining to the role his administration played in world affairs. Truman observed that ''Life'' editors had presented other memoirs with great dignity; he added that ''Life'' had also made the best offer.{{Citation needed|date = October 2022}}

Beginning in 1953, a Spanish-language edition was published, titled Life en español. It had a circulation of over 300,000 in Latin America.

For his 1955 [[Museum of Modern Art]] traveling exhibition ''[[The Family of Man]]'', which was to be seen by nine million visitors worldwide, curator [[Edward Steichen]] relied heavily on photographs from ''Life;'' 111 of the 503 pictures shown, constituting more than 20% as counted by [[Abigail Solomon-Godeau]].<ref>{{Citation | author1=Solomon-Godeau, Abigail | author2=Parsons, Sarah (Sarah Caitlin)| title=Photography after photography : gender, genre, and history | date=2017 | publisher=Duke University Press | isbn=978-0-8223-7362-9 }}</ref> His assistant [[Wayne F. Miller|Wayne Miller]] entered the magazine's archive in late 1953 and spent an estimated nine months there. He searched through 3.5 million images, most in the form of original negatives (only in the last years of the war did the picture department start to print contact sheets of all assignments) and submitted to Steichen for selection many that had not been published in the magazine.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Sandeen, Eric J | title=Picturing an exhibition : the family of man and 1950s America | date=1995 | publisher=University of New Mexico Press | edition=1st | pages=40–41 | isbn=978-0-8263-1558-8 }}</ref>

In November 1954, the actress [[Dorothy Dandridge]] was the first African-American woman to be featured on the cover of the magazine.{{Citation needed|date = October 2022}}<!--standing alone, this sentence seems like trivia.-->

In 1957, [[R. Gordon Wasson]], a vice president at [[J. P. Morgan]], published an article in ''Life'' extolling the virtues of [[magic mushrooms]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Joaquim Tarinas|url=http://www.imaginaria.org/wasson/life.htm|title=Robert Gordon Wasson Seeking the Magic Mushroom|work=Imaginaria|access-date=January 15, 2012|archive-date=January 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114143839/http://www.imaginaria.org/wasson/life.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> This prompted [[Albert Hofmann]] to isolate [[psilocybin]] in 1958 for distribution by [[Sandoz]] alongside [[LSD]] in the U.S., further raising interest in LSD in the mass media.<ref>{{cite magazine|date=June 16, 1958|title=Medicine: Mushroom Madness|magazine=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,863497,00.html|url-status=dead|access-date=May 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131160856/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,863497,00.html|archive-date=January 31, 2011}}</ref> Following Wasson's report, [[Timothy Leary]] visited Mexico to try out the mushrooms, which were used in traditional religious rituals.{{Citation needed|date = October 2022}}

''Life''{{'}}s motto became<ref>{{cite news|last=Ronk|first=Liz|date=December 2, 2012|title=Life in 2012: The Year in 12 Galleries|magazine=Time|url=https://time.com/3875143/life-in-2012-the-year-in-12-galleries/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104233716/https://time.com/3875143/life-in-2012-the-year-in-12-galleries/|archive-date=January 4, 2016}}</ref> "To see Life; to see the world." The magazine produced many [[popular science]] serials, such as ''[[The World We Live In (Life magazine)|The World We Live In]]'' and ''The Epic of Man'' in the early 1950s. The magazine continued to showcase the work of notable illustrators, such as [[Alton S. Tobey]], whose contributions included the cover for a 1958 series of articles on the history of the Russian Revolution.{{Citation needed|date = October 2022}}

As the 1950s drew to a close and television became more popular, the magazine was losing readers. In May 1959 it announced plans to reduce its regular news-stand price from 25 cents a copy to 20. With the increase in television sales and viewership, interest in news magazines was waning. ''Life'' had to try to create a new form.{{Citation needed|date = October 2022}}

In the 1960s, the magazine was filled with color photos of movie stars, President [[John F. Kennedy]] and his family, the [[war in Vietnam]], and the [[Apollo program]]. Typical of the magazine's editorial focus was a long 1964 feature on actress [[Elizabeth Taylor]] and her relationship with actor [[Richard Burton]]. Journalist [[Richard Meryman]] traveled with Taylor to [[New York City|New York]], [[California]], and [[Paris]]. ''Life'' ran a 6,000-word first-person article on the screen star.{{Citation needed|date = October 2022}}

<blockquote>"I'm not a 'sex queen' or a 'sex symbol,' " Taylor said. "I don't think I want to be one. Sex symbol kind of suggests bathrooms in hotels or something. I do know I'm a movie star and I like being a woman, and I think sex is absolutely gorgeous. But as far as a sex goddess, I don't worry myself that way... Richard is a very sexy man. He's got that sort of jungle essence that one can sense... When we look at each other, it's like our eyes have fingers and they grab ahold.... I think I ended up being the scarlet woman because of my rather puritanical upbringing and beliefs. I couldn't just have a romance. It had to be a marriage."<ref>"[http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830964,00.html Our Eyes Have Fingers]", ''Time'', December 25, 1964.</ref></blockquote>

In the 1960s, the magazine printed photographs by [[Gordon Parks]]. "The camera is my weapon against the things I dislike about the universe and how I show the beautiful things about the universe," Parks recalled in 2000. "I didn't care about Life magazine. I cared about the people," he said.<ref>''[[Rocky Mountain News|The Rocky Mountain News]]'', November 29, 2000, page 1.</ref>

A June 1964 Paul Welch ''Life'' article, "Homosexuality In America", was the first time a national mainstream publication reported on gay issues. ''Life''<nowiki/>'s photographer was referred to the [[leather subculture|gay leather]] bar in San Francisco called the Tool Box for the article by [[Hal Call]], who had long worked to dispel the myth that all homosexual men were effeminate. The article opened with a two-page spread of the mural of life-size leathermen in the bar, which had been painted by [[Chuck Arnett]] in 1962.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2000/yax-192.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050120222835/http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2000/yax-192.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2005-01-20 |title=yax-192 Life in 1964, part 1 |publisher=Yawningbread.org |date=1964-07-27 |access-date=2012-05-18 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Folsom_Street:_The_Miracle_Mile|title=Folsom Street: The Miracle Mile|last=Rubin|first=Gayle|author-link=Gayle Rubin|date=1998|website=FoundSF|access-date=2016-12-28}}</ref> The article described San Francisco as "The Gay Capital of America" and inspired many gay leathermen to move there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leatherarchives.org/exhibits/deblase/timeline1.htm#1964 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421175041/http://www.leatherarchives.org/exhibits/deblase/timeline1.htm#1964 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-04-21 |title=Leather Archives & Museum Leather History Timeline |access-date=2019-12-30}}</ref>

On March 25, 1966, ''Life'' featured the drug [[LSD]] as its cover story. The drug had attracted attention among the counterculture and was not yet criminalized.<ref>{{cite web |author=Life Magazine |url=http://www.psychedelic-library.org/magazines/lifelsd.htm |title=LSD - Cover |publisher=Psychedelic-library.org |access-date=2010-04-20 |archive-date=2020-08-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824110154/http://www.psychedelic-library.org/magazines/lifelsd.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In March 1967, ''Life'' won the 1967 [[National Magazine Award]], chosen by the [[Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}} 
Despite the industry's accolades and its coverage of the U.S. [[List of missions to the Moon|mission to the Moon]] in 1969, the magazine continued to lose circulation. Time Inc. announced in January 1971 its decision to reduce circulation from 8.5 million to 7 million, in an effort to offset shrinking advertising revenues. The following year, ''Life'' cut its circulation further, to 5.5 million beginning with the January 14, 1972 issue. ''Life'' was reportedly not losing money, but its costs were rising faster than its profits. ''Life'' lost credibility with many readers when it supported author [[Clifford Irving]], whose fraudulent autobiography of [[Howard Hughes]] was revealed as a [[hoax]] in January 1972. The magazine had purchased serialization rights to Irving's manuscript.{{Citation needed|date = October 2022}}

Industry figures showed that some 96% of ''Life'''s circulation went to mail subscribers, with only 4% coming from the more profitable newsstand sales. Gary Valk was publisher when, on December 8, 1972, the magazine announced it would cease publication by the end of the year and lay off hundreds of staff.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} The weekly ''Life'' magazine published its last issue on December 29, 1972.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mcknight360.com/dwda0bm3/life-magazine-final-issue |title="Life magazine final issue" |access-date=2021-10-20 |archive-date=2021-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020124148/https://www.mcknight360.com/dwda0bm3/life-magazine-final-issue |url-status=dead }}</ref>

From 1972 to 1978, Time Inc. published ten ''Life Special Reports'' on such themes as "The Spirit of Israel", "Remarkable American Women" and "The Year in Pictures". With a minimum of promotion, these issues sold between 500,000 and 1 million copies at cover prices of up to $2.{{citation needed|date = October 2022}}

Beginning with an October 1978 issue, ''Life'' was published as a monthly, with a new, modified logo. Although it remained a familiar red rectangle with the white type, the new version was larger, the lettering was closer together and the box surrounding it was smaller.

''Life'' continued for the next 22 years as general-interest, news features magazine. In 1986, it marked its 50th anniversary under the Time Inc. umbrella with a special issue showing every ''Life'' cover starting from 1936, which included the issues published during the six-year hiatus in the 1970s.

The circulation in this era hovered around 1.5 million. The cover price in 1986 was $2.50 ({{Inflation|US|2.50|1986|r=2|fmt=eq}}). The publisher was Charles Whittingham; the editor was Philip Kunhardt.

In 1991, ''Life'' sent correspondents to the first [[Gulf War]] and published special issues of coverage. Four issues of this weekly, ''Life in Time of War'', were published during the war.

''Life''{{'}}s online presence began in the 1990s<ref>{{cite web | title=Life Magazine Home Page | publisher=pathfinder.com | date=1998-02-16 | url=http://www.pathfinder.com/Life/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980216071228/http://www.pathfinder.com/Life/ | archive-date=1998-02-16 | url-status=dead | access-date=2019-08-10}}</ref> as part of the Pathfinder.com network. The standalone Life.com site was launched on March 31, 2009, and closed on January 30, 2012. Life.com was developed by Andrew Blau and Bill Shapiro, the same team who launched the weekly newspaper supplement. While the archive of ''Life'', known as the Life Picture Collection, was substantial, they searched for a partner who could provide significant contemporary photography. They approached [[Getty Images]], the world's largest licensor of photography. The site, a joint venture between [[Getty Images]] and ''Life'' magazine, offered millions of photographs from their combined collections.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.life.com |title=Life.com |publisher=Life.com |access-date=2012-01-15}}</ref> On the 50th anniversary of the night [[Marilyn Monroe]] sang "[[Happy Birthday to You|Happy Birthday]]" to [[John F. Kennedy]], Life.com presented Bill Ray's iconic portrait of the actress, along with other rare photos.

Life.com later became a redirect to a small photo channel on Time.com. Life.com also maintains [[Tumblr]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://life.tumblr.com |title=Tumblr |publisher=Life.tumblr.com |date=1940-12-13 |access-date=2012-01-15}}</ref> and [[Twitter]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.twitter.com/life |title=Twitter |publisher=Twitter |access-date=2012-01-15}}</ref> accounts and a presence on [[Instagram]].

The magazine struggled financially and, in February 1993, ''Life'' announced the magazine would be printed in a smaller format starting with its July issue, which reintroduced the original ''Life'' logo.

''Life'' reduced advertising prices by 34%{{when|date=December 2020}} in a bid to attract more advertisers. The magazine reduced its circulation guarantee for advertisers by 12% in July 1993, from 1.7 million to 1.5 million copies. The publishers in this era were Nora McAniff and Edward McCarrick. [[Daniel Okrent]] was the editor. ''Life'' now used the smaller size used by its longtime Time Inc. sister publication, [[Fortune (magazine)|''Fortune'']].

Though experiencing financial trouble, in 1999 the magazine still made news by compiling lists to round out the 20th century. ''Life'' editors ranked their "Most Important Events of the Millennium" and a list of the "100 Most Important People of the Millennium." This list was criticized for focusing on the West. [[Thomas Edison]]'s number one ranking was challenged since critics believed that other inventions, such as the [[internal combustion engine]], the automobile, and electricity-making machines, for example, had greater effects on society than Edison's. The top 100 list was criticized for mixing world-famous names, such as [[Isaac Newton]], [[Albert Einstein]], [[Louis Pasteur]], and [[Leonardo da Vinci]], with figures largely unknown outside of the United States (18 Americans compared to 13 Italian and French, and 11 English).{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

===21st century===
In March 2000, Time Inc. announced it would cease regular publication of ''Life'' with the May issue.

<blockquote>"It's a sad day for us here," [[Don Logan]], chairman and chief executive of Time Inc., told CNN.com. "It was still in the black," he said, noting that ''Life'' was increasingly spending more to maintain its monthly circulation level of approximately 1.5 million. "''Life'' was a general interest magazine and since its reincarnation, it had always struggled to find its identity, to find its position in the marketplace."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2000/03/17/bizbuzz/life/|title=Time Inc. to cease publication of Life magazine|date=March 17, 2000|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref></blockquote>

The magazine's last issue featured a human interest story. In 1936, its first issue under Henry Luce featured a baby named George Story, with the headline "Life Begins"; over the years the magazine had published updates about the course of Story's life as he married, had children, and pursued a career as a journalist. After ''Time'' announced its pending closure in March, George Story happened to die of heart failure on April 4, 2000. The last issue of ''Life'' was titled "A Life Ends", featuring his story and how it had intertwined with the magazine over the years.<ref name="Sumner2010">{{cite book|author=David E. Sumner|title=The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J7g9PgL_No0C&pg=PA89|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-1-4331-0493-0|pages=89–}}</ref>

For ''Life'' subscribers, remaining subscriptions were honored with other Time Inc. magazines, such as ''Time''. In January 2001, these subscribers received a special, ''Life''-sized format of "The Year in Pictures" edition of ''Time'' magazine. It was a ''Life'' issue disguised under a ''Time'' logo on the front. Newsstand copies of this edition were published under the ''Life'' imprint.

While citing poor advertising sales and a difficult climate for selling magazine subscriptions, Time Inc. executives said a key reason for closing the title in 2000 was to divert resources to the company's other magazine launches that year, such as ''[[Real Simple]]''. Later that year, its owner, [[Time Warner]], struck a deal with the [[Tribune Company]] for [[Times Mirror]] magazines, which included ''Golf, Ski, Skiing, Field & Stream'', and ''Yachting''. [[AOL]] and [[Time Warner]] announced a $184 billion merger, the largest corporate merger in history, which was finalized in January 2001.<ref>{{cite web | title=Who Owns What: Time Warner Corporate Timeline | website=cjr.org | date=2006-08-18 | url=http://www.cjr.org/_deprecate/timewarner-timeline.asp | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818051718/http://www.cjr.org/_deprecate/timewarner-timeline.asp | archive-date=2006-08-18 | url-status=dead | access-date=2019-08-10}}</ref>

In 2001, Time Warner began publishing special newsstand "megazine" issues of ''Life'', on topics such as the [[September 11 attacks]] and the [[Holy Land]]. These issues, which were printed on thicker paper, were more like softcover books than magazines.{{Clarify|date=April 2021}}

Beginning in October 2004, ''Life'' was revived for a second time. It resumed weekly publication as a free supplement to U.S. newspapers, competing for the first time with the two industry heavyweights, ''[[Parade (magazine)|Parade]]'' and ''[[USA Weekend]]''. At its launch, it was distributed with more than 60 newspapers with a combined circulation of approximately 12 million. Among the newspapers to carry ''Life'' were the ''[[The Washington Post|Washington Post]]'', ''[[New York Daily News]]'', ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', ''[[The Denver Post|Denver Post]]'', and ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]''. Time Inc. made deals with several major newspaper publishers to carry the ''Life'' supplement, including [[Knight Ridder]] and [[the McClatchy Company]]. The launch of ''Life'' as a weekly newspaper supplement was conceived by Andrew Blau, who served as the President of ''Life''. [[Bill Shapiro]] was the founding editor of the weekly supplement.

This version of ''Life'' retained its trademark logo but sported a new cover motto, "America's Weekend Magazine." It measured 9½ x 11½ inches and was printed on glossy paper in full color. On September 15, 2006, ''Life'' was 19 pages of editorial content. The editorial content contained one full-page photo, of actress [[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]], and one three-page, seven-photo essay, of [[Kaiju Big Battel]]. On March 24, 2007, Time Inc. announced that it would fold the magazine as of April 20, 2007, although it would keep the web site.<ref name="timetoclose" /><ref name="usatoday" />

On November 18, 2008, [[Google]] began hosting an archive of the magazine's photographs, as part of a joint effort with ''Life''.<ref name="google">{{cite news|author=Ewen MacAskill in Washington |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/nov/18/google-life-magazine-photographs-images |title=Google makes Life magazine photo archives available to the public |newspaper=Guardian |date= November 18, 2008|access-date=2012-01-15}}</ref> Many images in this archive had never been published in the magazine.<ref>{{cite news |title=Google gives online life to Life mag's photos |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hpwZcZap0g13zNOf8SxhiGlxYYCQD94I7JBO0 |quote=Google Inc. has opened an online photo gallery that will include millions of images from Life magazine's archives that have never been seen by the public before. |agency=Associated Press |date=2008-11-19 |access-date=2008-11-19 }}</ref> The archive of over six million photographs from ''Life'' is also available through [[Google Cultural Institute]], allowing for users to create collections, and is accessible through [[Google image search]]. The full archive of the issues of the main run (1936–1972) is available through [[Google Book Search]].<ref name="Browse all issues">{{cite web|title=Life magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BFAEAAAAMBAJ|website=Google Books|date = 14 December 1942|access-date=10 December 2016}}</ref>

Special editions of ''Life'' are published on notable occasions, such as a ''[[Bob Dylan]]'' edition on the occasion of his winning the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] in 2016, ''[[Paul McCartney|Paul at 75]]'' when Paul McCartney turned 75 in 2017, and ''"Life" Explores: The Roaring '20s'' in 2020.<ref>''"Life" Explores: The Roaring '20s: The Decade that Changed America'' (2020), New York: Meredith.</ref>

''Life'' is currently owned by [[Dotdash Meredith]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://websupport.meredith.com/hc/en-us/categories/4410289678103-LIFE|title=Meredith Customer Support-LIFE|publisher=Dotdash Meredith|accessdate=December 5, 2023}}</ref> which owns most former [[Time Inc.]] and [[Meredith Corporation]] assets.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/iacs-dotdash-buy-magazine-publisher-meredith-27-bln-deal-2021-10-06/|title=IAC's Dotdash to buy magazine publisher Meredith in $2.7 bln deal|first=Subrat|last=Patnaik|publisher=Reuters|date=October 6, 2021|accessdate=December 5, 2023}}</ref>

In 2024 it was announced that Bedford Media (owned by [[Karlie Kloss]] and [[Joshua Kushner]]) would be reviving the magazine in an agreement with Dotdash Meredith.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spangler |first=Todd |date=2024-03-28 |title=Karlie Kloss Is Relaunching LIFE Magazine |url=https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/karlie-kloss-relaunching-life-magazine-1235954452/ |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

===In popular culture===
*In 2013, the film, ''[[The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013 film)|The Secret Life of Walter Mitty]]'', starring [[Ben Stiller]] and [[Kristen Wiig]], portrays ''Life'' as it transitioned from printed material toward having only an online presence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.waltermitty.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006043411/http://www.waltermitty.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-10-06 |title=The Secret Life of Walter Mitty |publisher=waltermitty.com |date=2013-06-28 |access-date=2013-12-29 }}</ref>

==Contributors==
Notable contributors have included:

* [[John Kendrick Bangs]], editor and writer
* [[Dominic Behan]], writer

Photojournalists:
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Harry Benson]]
* [[Berry Berenson]]
* [[Walter Bosshard (photojournalist)|Walter Bosshard]] 
* [[Margaret Bourke-White]]
* [[Brian Brake]] 
* [[Larry Burrows]] 
* [[David Burnett (photojournalist)|David Burnett]]
* [[David Douglas Duncan]]
* [[Robert Capa]]
* [[Henri Cartier-Bresson]]
* [[Loomis Dean]] 
* [[John Dominis]]
* [[Alfred Eisenstaedt]] 
* [[Eliot Elisofon]]
* [[Bill Eppridge]] 
* [[Andreas Feininger]] 
* [[Ron Galella]] 
* [[Alfred Gescheidt]] 
* [[Bob Gomel]] 
* [[Allan Grant]] 
* [[Dirck Halstead]]
* [[Marie Hansen]]
* [[Bernard Hoffman]]
* [[Henri Huet]] 
* [[Isaac Kitrosser]]
* [[Lalaine Madrigal]]
* [[Peter B. Martin]]
* [[Hansel Mieth]] 
* [[Lee Miller]] 
* [[Gjon Mili]] 
* [[Ralph Morse]] 
* [[Carl Mydans]] 
* [[Gordon Parks]]
* [[John Phillips (photographer)|John Phillips]]
* [[Bill Ray (photojournalist)|Bill Ray]]
* [[Co Rentmeester]]
* [[Paul Schutzer]]
* [[Art Shay]]
* [[George Silk]]
* [[George Strock]]
* [[W. Eugene Smith]] 
* [[Peter Stackpole]]
* [[Pete Souza]]
* [[Edward K. Thompson]], managing editor (1949–1961) and editor (1961–1970)
* [[John Vachon]]
* [[Jeff Vespa]], editor
* [[Leigh Wiener]] 
* [[Tony Zappone]], Europe edition
* [[John G. Zimmerman]] 
{{Div col end}}

Film critics:
* [[Brad Darrach]] 
* [[Wheeler Winston Dixon]]

Fashion:
* [[Howell Conant]], fashion photographer
* [[Clay Felker]], sportswriter, founder of [[New York (magazine)|''New York'' magazine]]
* [[Sally Kirkland (editor)|Sally Kirkland]], editor, fashion

Photographers:
* [[John Florea]] 
* [[Henry Grossman]]
* [[Philippe Halsman]]
* [[Dorothea Lange]]
* [[Nina Leen]]
* [[Mark Shaw (photographer)|Mark Shaw]]
* [[Edward Steichen]], portraits
* [[André Weinfeld]], portraits

Illustrators:
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Charles Dana Gibson]]
* [[Lejaren Hiller, Sr.]]
* [[Mary Hamman]], modern living editor
* [[Richard Edes Harrison]], cartographer
* [[Jane Howard (journalist)|Jane Howard]], journalist and correspondent
* [[Will Lang Jr.]] (bureau chief)
* [[Henry Luce]], publisher and editor-in-chief
* [[Gerald Moore]], reporter
{{Div col end}}

Writers:
* [[Normand Poirier]]
* [[Ronald B. Scott]]
* [[David Snell (journalist)|David Snell]], journalist, writer, and cartoonist
* [[Thomas Thompson (American author)|Thomas Thompson]], writer and editor

==See also==
* [[List of defunct American periodicals]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1080/00947679.2009.12062786|title=Between Silence and Self-Interest |year=2009 |last1=Bissonette |first1=Devan L. |journal=Journalism History |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=62–71 |s2cid=140850931 }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1353/asr.2011.0022|title=Advertising in ''Life'' Magazine and the Encouragement of Suburban Ideals |year=2011 |last1=Centanni |first1=Rebecca |journal=Advertising & Society Review |volume=12 |issue=3 |s2cid=154297703 }}
* [[Erika Doss|Doss, Erika]], ed. (2001). ''Looking at Life Magazine''. Essays by experts.
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1080/14725860701657134 |url=http://vissoc.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2010/02/4-grady-ads-and-race.pdf|title=Advertising images as social indicators: Depictions of blacks in ''LIFE'' magazine, 1936–2000 |year=2007 |last1=Grady |first1=John |journal=Visual Studies |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=211–239 |s2cid=35722845 }}
* {{cite book |last=Keller |first=Emily |title=Margaret Bourke-White: A Photographer's Life |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8225-4916-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BXgNCY5QZlwC}}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1177/107769909006700119 |url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED310460.pdf|title=African-American Photo Coverage in ''Life'', ''Newsweek'' and ''Time'', 1937–1988 |year=1990 |last1=Lester |first1=Paul |last2=Smith |first2=Ron |journal=Journalism Quarterly |volume=67 |pages=128–136 |s2cid=145442771 }}
* {{cite book |last=Moore |first=Gerald |title=Life Story: The Education of an American Journalist |year=2016 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |authorlink=Gerald Moore |isbn=978-0-8263-5677-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JwdjgEACAAJ }}
* {{cite journal |jstor=20770947|title=The Popular Front in the American Century: ''Life'' Magazine, Margaret Bourke-White, and Consumer Realism, 1936–1941 |last1=Vials |first1=Chris |journal=American Periodicals |year=2006 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=74–102 |doi=10.1353/amp.2006.0009 |s2cid=144607109 }}
* Wainwright, Loudon. ''The Great American Magazine: An inside history of Life'' (Random House Inc, 1986). {{ISBN|978-0-394-45987-5}}.
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1177/1522637916639393|title=Creating ''Life'': "America's Most Potent Editorial Force" |year=2016 |last1=Webb |first1=Sheila M. |journal=Journalism & Communication Monographs |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=55–108 |s2cid=147872092 }} Evolution of photojournalism, centered on the magazine.
* {{cite journal |jstor=23416397|title=The Consumer-Citizen: ''Life'' Magazine's Construction of a Middle-Class Lifestyle Through Consumption Scenarios |last1=Webb |first1=Sheila |journal=Studies in Popular Culture |year=2012 |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=23–47 }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1080/08821127.2010.10678155|title=Art Commentary for the Middlebrow: Promoting Modernism & Modern Art through Popular Culture—How ''Life'' Magazine Brought "The New" into Middle-Class Homes |year=2010 |last1=Webb |first1=Sheila |journal=American Journalism |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=115–150 |s2cid=152990744 }}
* {{cite journal |jstor=23416170|title=A Pictorial Myth in the Pages of ''Life'': Small-Town America as the Ideal Place |last1=Webb |first1=Sheila |journal=Studies in Popular Culture |year=2006 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=35–58 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Life (magazine)}}
* [http://www.Life.com/ Life.com official site]
* [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000548237 ''Life'' archives (1883–1936)] at [[HathiTrust Digital Library]]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=N0EEAAAAMBAJ#all_issues_anchor Full ''Life'' magazine issues from 1936 through 1972] at [[Google Books]]
* [https://archive.today/20130107125428/http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/portfolio/2007/04/26/le-monde-2-le-magazine-life-la-chronique-de-l-amerique_901445_3246.html "Le magazine ''Life'', la chronique de l'Amérique"] at ''[[Le Monde]]''
* [http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/life ''Life'' covers at CoverBrowser]
* [http://www.philsp.com/data/data277.html Magazine Data File: ''Life'' (1883)]
* [http://www.magazineart.org/main.php/v/humor/life/ Online archive] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101221248/http://www.magazineart.org/main.php/v/humor/life/ |date=2020-01-01 }}, ''Life'' covers, the humor magazine (1883–1936)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Life (Magazine)}}
[[Category:Life (magazine)| ]]
[[Category:Defunct magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:IAC (company)]]
[[Category:Magazines disestablished in 2007]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1883]]
[[Category:Magazines published in New York City]]
[[Category:Monthly magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:News magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Newspaper supplements]]
[[Category:Online magazines with defunct print editions]]
[[Category:Photojournalistic magazines]]
[[Category:Weekly magazines published in the United States]]