In its latest bid to revive the most popular magazine brand of the 20th century, Time Inc. in 2004 relaunched Life as a Friday insert in 70 U.S. newspapers. On April 20, the Life supplement will cease publication.
The news of the Life brand’s recent hard luck is sad for us, as the early history of Black Star is closely intertwined with the glory days of Life. From Life’s launch in 1936, Black Star was a major supplier of photographs to the magazine.
According to photo historian Marianne Fulton, Life brought Black Star 30 to 40 percent of its business. Our agency, in turn, contributed to Life becoming the most important magazine in America for nearly three decades, with tens of millions of readers.
Noted Black Star photographers who contributed to life include Robert Capa, Andreas Feininger, Germaine Krull, Philippe Halsman, Martin Munkácsi, W. Eugene Smith, Marion Post-Wolcott, Bill Brandt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Mario Giacomelli.
One piece of good news in Time Inc.’s announcement: the company revealed plans to launch a free Web site that will host Life’s collection of 10 million images. The site, which will make the photographs available for personal use at no cost, will go live later this year.
(Via PDN Online)
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