Life photographer Yale Joel standing in front of one of his photographs. (Photo by Gordon Parks/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Life photographer Yale Joel standing in front of one of his photographs. (Photo by Gordon Parks/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

After spending World War II in Italy as an Army combat photographer, Yale Joel (1919-2006) returned to the U.S., and in 1947 joined the staff at LIFE, where he spent the next quarter century working out of LIFE’S Washington, D.C., Paris, Boston and New York City news bureaus. He was known for his versatility, often traipsing along the East Coast capturing Americana. His forte was the tricky shot that required esoteric equipment or choreographed setups.

Adapted from The Great LIFE Photographers

Yale University. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Yale University. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Writer Gloria Steinem sitting cross-legged on floor w. sign We Shall Overcome re pop culture (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Writer Gloria Steinem sitting cross-legged on floor w. sign We Shall Overcome re pop culture (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Rock group The Doors performing at the Fillmore East. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

The Doors performed at the Fillmore East, 1968.

Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation

Playing field and packed stands during Army-Navy game. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Playing field and packed stands during Army-Navy game. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

More Like This

Bikini clad actress Jayne Mansfield posing with shapely bottles floating around her in her pool. (Photo by Allan Grant/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation). Photographer

Allan Grant

President Franklin D. Roosevelt listening to speeches. (Photo by Thomas McAvoy/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Thomas McAvoy

Bushman children playing games on sand dunes.(Photo by N.R. Farbman/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

N.R. Farbman

Children in blitzed north of England eating meal from bread and Lease Lend cheese. (Photo by Hans Wild/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Hans Wild

Drawing room at Notre-Dame-de-Vie withPortraits of Picasso and wife Jacqueline taken by David Douglas Duncan (Photo by Gjon Mili/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

David Douglas Duncan

MIT student using a MAC computer for project study of artificial intelligence. (Photo by Leonard Mccombe/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Leonard McCombe