LIFE photographer Martha Holmes working on assignment. (Photo by George Cardoza/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

LIFE photographer Martha Holmes working on assignment. (Photo by George Cardoza/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Martha Holmes (1923-2006) was one of those photographers who strove to make her subjects took good. She would find their best side, shadow their thinning hair or even touch up the picture afterwards. “If they know you’re on their side—and I am—that helps,” Holmes once said. A Kentucky native and elegant dresser, when she began her career at the Louisville Courier-Journal she always wore “a frilly little dress” on Sundays. One weekend, a fire broke out, and working that story got her to switch to culottes. She eventually donned slacks, but in any outfit, Holmes remained her unique, warm, courtly self.

Adapted from The Great LIFE Photographers

A view of picket lines in front of Paramount Studios during a set directors strike. (Photo by Martha Holmes/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

A view of picket lines in front of Paramount Studios during a set directors strike. (Photo by Martha Holmes/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Painter Jackson Pollock smoking as he squats on floor, applying paint to canvas in Long Island studio. (Photo by Martha Holmes/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Painter Jackson Pollock smoking as he squats on floor, applying paint to canvas in Long Island studio. (Photo by Martha Holmes/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Dean of Santas giving lecture at the Waldorf Santa Convention. (Photo by Martha Holmes/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Dean of Santas giving lecture at the Waldorf Santa Convention. (Photo by Martha Holmes/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

More Like This

Wide-angle photo of the floor at the Democratic convention with John F. Kennedy supporters.(Photo by Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Ralph Crane

American movie producer, artist, and animator Walt Disney and fellow artist and animator Mary Blair sit on a balcony and draw on sketch pads while in South America. (Photo by Hart Preston/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Hart Preston

Models lying on beach to display bathing suits. (Photo by Nina Leen/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Nina Leen

LIFE photographer Philippe Halsman poised w. camera in serious portrait. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Philippe Halsman

Actor Charlton Heston as Moses with his arms flung wide while appearing in the motion picture, "The Ten Commandments", as it is shown at drive-in movie theater. (Photo by J.R. Eyerman/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

J.R. Eyerman

Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi reading next to a spinning wheel at home. (Photo by Margaret Bourke-White/The LIFE Picture Collection © DotDash Meredith) Photographer

Margaret Bourke-White