LIFE Photo Archives Online

LIFE Magazine was famous for its own photography. In addition, it had one heck of a photo archive. Now some of that work is available online, stretching as far back as the 1870s (long before the publication came into existence).

Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.

I'm finding that the description doesn't quite mesh with what I can see on the site. No matter how I search, whether by decade, year, or topic, the maximum number of photos that come back seems to be 200. For those who need old pictures for projects, remember that in the U.S., anything from before 1923 is in the public domain.

Afghan Art Price Competition Includes Photographers

A person who helped create a national art price in Afghanistan had a piece in the Financial Times describing it. Two photographers are involved, and if you scroll down the piece, you can see a shot from one of them: two soccer players looking playfully out of place in the mountainous landscape. It's a photo with humor, cultural relevance, and pleasing composition. It's one of the rare times I've seen a "rule of thirds" composition look so natural and unplanned, with leading lines helping to focus the eye. A very nice image.

Newly Found Pictures of Second Lincoln Inauguration

I heard this story on National Public Radio and found it delightful. The Library of Congress had, through misreading somewhat illegible hand-written logs in the 1940s, misfiled some pictures of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural. The Library put its photos and other images online recently, and a research found the mistake. The story link has some of the images, and full-sized ones are available there for the download.

Online Photography Collections

I had caught misreading an article, thinking that a major museum in Cleveland was uploading its photography collection onto the web. But that got me wondering about what collections might be available for online views. I did some searching, and here are some suggestions:

• New York Public Library - The institution offers a number of online exhibitions.


• NOAA Photo Library - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has 10,000 environmental photos.


• George Eastman House - The foundation of teh photographic pioneer (Does the name Kodak ring a bell?) has a growing collection from its extensive holdings.


• Museum of Modern Art in New York - MoMA has online exhibitions and projects.


• US Geological Survey - Natural history and earth science images.


• Smithsonian Institution - Browse selected images, download screen resolution versions, and send e-cards.


• Library of Congress American Memory - Collections of teh LOC.