Web Watch:
LIFE Magazine Online

Susan M. Deysher
CAST, Inc.

If, like me, you've ever riffled through old copies of LIFE magazine at antique stores and marveled at how well the images capture both historic events and everyday life, then you'll enjoy browsing through the extensive resources available at LIFE Magazine Online. From 1936 to 1972 LIFE was published weekly, after which time it became a monthly publication. Since LIFE has been chronicling events in pictures since before the rise of television, LIFE Magazine Online offers a great repository of images that can be used as part of a media literacy curriculum, and LIFE Magazine Online makes it quite easy to locate images of interest. For example, the LIFE Time Machine Cover Collection includes all the covers from 1936 to 1972 and is searchable by date or by keyword.

The entire site is also searchable by a fairly robust search engine.The Features section provides links to numerous photo essays, arranged into categories including Civil Rights, War, Space, Politics, Health, Belief, Animal Life, Performing Arts, and Sports. These provide powerful examples of how photojournalism affects the way that we view the world around us.

For educators interested in visual literacy, "LIFE Master Photographers" provides a glimpse into what made these photographers great; for example, see The Country Doctor by W. Eugene Smith (1948), A Tribute to Larry Burrows, and LIFE Remembers Eisie, a feature on long-time LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt. Other neat aspects of the site include the Picture of the Day, This Day in LIFE, and the Virtual Gallery, which includes links to a number of other photojournalism resources on the Web, including those that examine the role of digital photography.

A cautionary note about the content: Keep in mind that LIFE magazine is intended for a broad public audience and contains some images that may be inappropriate for younger students.