featured issue
LIFE Little Women: A Story for Every Generation
Ever since it was published more than 150 years ago, Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel about the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, has been revered and adored for its portrait of American life, its depiction of growing from adolescence into maturity, its exploration of the bonds among the siblings at the heart of the story, and its groundbreaking implication that the lives of girls and women are rich, complex, and powerful. Now, this special edition chronicles the long and nuanced history of the novel and celebrates the remarkable spirit of Alcott herself, a woman whose radical approach to life and equality was years ahead of her time.
Explore her biography and the “rebellious spirit” that pervades the book. Consider the story’s many adaptations that have kept her legacy at the heart of popular culture over the years, including Katharine Hepburn in 1933 and the new movie directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Saoirse Ronan. Let this special edition help you celebrate one of the most important novels in American literature.
featured event
LIFE Magazine and the Power of Photography
Princeton University Art Museum; Princeton, New Jersey
Saturday, February 22, 2020 – Sunday, June 21, 2020
Offering an in-depth look at the photography featured in LIFE magazine, this exhibition examines how the magazine’s use of images fundamentally shaped the modern idea of photography in the United States. The work of photographers such as Margaret Bourke-White, Larry Burrows, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Frank Dandridge, Gordon Parks, and W. Eugene Smith is explored in the context of the creative and editorial structures at LIFE. Drawing on unprecedented access to LIFE magazine’s picture and paper archives, as well as photographers’ archives, the exhibition presents an array of materials, including caption files, contact sheets, and shooting scripts, that shed new light on the collaborative process behind many now-iconic images and photo-essays.
