In its June 27, 1955 issue LIFE gave two magazine pages over to a pet project of one of its staff photographers, Andreas Feininger. For years he had been taking photos of people in masks.
Feinginger found inspiration for the project in 1951, when he took the picture of a young photographer named Dennis Stock for a basic story on the winners of a magazine contest. What ran in the magazine was a simple portrait of Stock, but Feininger also took a photo of young man holding his camera in a way that made it look like an extension of his Stock’s face, with the lens becoming a supercharged version of his right eye. The image could have come from a ’50s sci-fi movie called The Cameraman with the tagline “He sees all.”
After taking that photo of Stock, Feininger, “kept thinking about making a set of stylized portraits to show how the instruments men use at work and at play often become an almost indivisble part of the men themselves,” LIFE wrote. And so over the course of four years, in between regular assignments for the magazine, Feininger built his collection of portraits.
In some cases the portraits follow the concept of the photo of Stock closely. A doctor’s head mirror (a once-common examination tool that is now obsolete) takes on the look of a giant eye. A wearable megaphone becomes an amplification of the wearer’s mouth.
Other masks perform the basic task of protection—especially those worn by athletes from the worlds of baseball, football and fencing. These images harken back to the tales of knights in armor.
The photos can be seen as examining the line between a human being and his technology—a question that has only become more profound over the decades. But the central appeal is that these photos look fantastic. The original image of Stock has become iconic (it helps that Stock went on to an impressive photography career of this own).
Feininger’s work is a reminder that LIFE’s photographers, in addition to being chroniclers of their times, could also be artists who advanced the craft of photography.
A young man, Dennis Stock, holding a camera in front of his face so that lense looks like his right eye. This picture was basis for story that Feininger later developed for LIFE in 1955.
Andreas Feininger The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fencer posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fencer posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fighter pilot posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A baseball catcher posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A football player posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A swimmer posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A diver posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A scuba diver posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A man wearing safety equipment posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A welder posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A man with a megaphone attached to his face posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A jeweler with magnifying glasses posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A doctor wearing a head mirror posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fighter pilot posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fencer posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A scuba diver posed for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
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cx Medicine-Eye-Glasses x Sports-Fencing cx Welding cx Diving Doctors head mirror cx Sound-Equipment x Gas Masks cx Photography-Photographers * Masks
A man posed with a megahone attached to his mouth for Andreas Feininger’s 1955 photo essay on masks.
Andreas Feininger/LIfe Picture Collection/Shutterstock
