Page 3 – LIFE

Cold Cave’s LIFE Magazine: A Haunting Tribute to Nostalgia

October 4, 2024October 4, 2024 by Alexa Jade Frankelis

In 2007, the band Cold Cave wrote the song “LIFE Magazine” shortly after learning that the iconic publication had ceased printing. “The notion that something called LIFE had died, after decades of being so iconic…was just too existential,” explained band member Wesley Eisold over email.

Started in Los Angeles, Cold Cave includes members Eisold and Amy Lee and is known for its synth-driven sound. The ending of LIFE Magazine inspired the title of the song and its dual themes of futility and hope, with lyrics like:

“…I climb clouds to the bluest of the sky

And all I saw was air

I rain my love to the heads that breathe below

But none of them cared…”

“To me, the song is about the duality of futility in everything and retaining a little hope, a little bounciness, to keep moving forward anyway. That choice is in the eye of the beholder. It’s happy-sad,” Eisold explained.

For Cold Cave, visual culture and photography have always played a crucial role in their music and artistic expression; a connection that aligns well with the legacy of LIFE Magazine, known for its pioneering photo essays.

“For me, LIFE Magazine represents youth,” wrote Eisold. “The checkout lane at the grocery store. The coffee table at the grandparents’ house. The brutalist red logo and the stark headlines. Brilliant and fatalist and authoritative. It was celebratory and scary.” These memories influenced the creation of the song, blending a sense of nostalgia with a contemporary sound.

When asked about favorite issues or images from LIFE Magazine, they named several iconic moments: Marilyn Monroe in 1952, Jefferson Airplane in 1968, Charles Manson in 1969, Paul & Linda McCartney in 1969, and Madonna in 1986. These selections reflect a diverse range of cultural moments that have shaped both their artistic vision and personal identity.

Marilyn Monroe attends the Foreign Press Association of Hollywood’s First Annual International Film Festival, at the Club Del Mar, Santa Monica, California, January 26, 1952. At the ceremony, Monroe won a ‘Henrietta’ award, her first of several over the years.

Loomis Dean The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

American rock group, Jefferson Airplane, performs i in front of a screen projection from ‘Glenn McKay’s Headlights,’ during which the artist projected light through various liquids and was accompanied by live music by the group, at the Whitney Museum, New York, New York, 1968.

Henry Groskinsky The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Mass murderer and conspirator, Charles Manson, at his preliminary hearing, Independence, California, December 1969.

Vernon Merritt III The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Paul (center) & Linda McCartney after their wedding, London, United Kingdom, 1969.

Terence Spencer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Though the song “LIFE Magazine” was initially sidelined after its release in 2007, it has since been revived in Cold Cave’s live performances.

“The song was a staple but it only partially represented what Cold Cave was to me,” Eisold notes. The band’s label at the time had heavily licensed it for commercial use, elevating the song’s profile. “But that didn’t change the song’s influence on me or how I wanted the band to be seen. The project was too new and undefined, and I didn’t want the commercially approved pop song to define me.” Today, with a clearer definition of the band’s identity, “LIFE Magazine” has found its place in their setlists once again.

In terms of visual representation for live performances, Cold Cave opted for a diverse array of imagery. “We wanted an array of war, fashion, beauty, Hollywood, rock’n’roll…there is this beautiful phenomenon where visuals and music always sync up magically, so we didn’t overthink it.”

Reflecting on the song’s connection to nostalgia, Eisold sees it as both a blessing and a curse. “Synth music has the curse and luxury of nostalgia. It’s a sound for tomorrow’s yesterdays.”

The Moment When Sweaters Grew Up

October 2, 2024October 2, 2024 by Bill Syken

LIFE photographer Nina Leen had a sure eye for fashion. And when the temperatures dropped, she often turned that eye toward what was a relatively new way to dress for the change in seasons.

Today sweaters are a staple of a fall/winter wardrobe, but it was not always the case. The sweater first came into use as sportswear, and it was only around the 1920s that it made the transition to everyday clothing.

A story that Leen shot in 1945 showed its tenuous place that sweaters held in America’s closets at the time. The story talked about sweaters as jockeying for status with a loose-fitting (and similar-looking) piece of clothing known as the “sloppy Joe.”

“Having floated around for years in `sloppy Joes,’ girls are getting back into sweaters, which fit more trimly,” wrote LIFE in its Dec. 3, 1945 issue. The sweaters in that particular shoot were Jacquard sweaters, so named for their particular weaving process, and the story discussed how their look had changed as the makers aimed toward a more domestic market. The versions that had been made for sportsmen tended to decorated with snowflakes and deer and the like, but “the new patterns this year reflect the interests of young girls—telephone numbers, boys’ names, toy animals and boogie-woogie motifs.”

The sweaters in Leen’s 1947 shoot featured even more colorful designs, including one with a knife piercing a bleeding heart.

But in shoots done by Leen in 1949 and 1952, the sweaters become sleeker and more mature. The 1952 shoot featured a plain black sweater worn by a model, Mary Cheseboro Phipps, who was a noted socialite and husband of writer Thomas W. Phipps. That shoot made clear—sweaters were growing up.

But as the ugly sweater phenomenon shows, wild designs will always be a part of the sweater culture.

A LIFE fashion shoot on Jacquard sweaters, 1945.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A fashion shoot on Jacquard sweaters, 1945.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A LIFE 1945 fashion shoot on Jacquard sweaters.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A LIFE fashion shoot on Jacquard sweaters, 1945.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A 1945 story on Jacquard sweaters.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A fashion shoot on crazy sweaters, 1947.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A fashion shoot on crazy sweaters, 1947.

Nina Leen?Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A fashion shoot on crazy sweaters, 1947.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A sweater fashion shoot for LIFE, 1949.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Women with stylish cuts wearing classic knitwear cardigans, 1952.

Nina Leen?Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A 1952 sweater fashion shoot for LIFE.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A model wore a classic knitted cardigan, 1952.

Nina Leen?Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Socialite Mary Chesebro Phipps wore a cashmere scooped neck sweater combined with a brocade skirt, 1952.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Logging Life: Gone Down the River

September 24, 2024September 24, 2024 by Bill Syken

Some of the most appealing photoshoots for the original run of LIFE magazine are the ones that captured a way of life that has receded from the modern world. Perhaps there is no better example than LIFE’s story on the vanishing cowboy, which would become an inspiration for the Marlboro Man character. That figure resonated in part because he represented something that was being lost—a world in which people spent their workdays in the saddle, rather than at the desk.

In 1940 LIFE staff photographer Hansel Mieth ventured to Idaho for a story in a similar vein. Here the central figures were the loggers. Mieth captured these men gathering timber from the forests and shepherding those fallen trees down the river to a lumber mill. A log drive bears more than a passing resemblance to a cattle drive. While the trees are not alive in the same way that cattle are, their size, along with the rushing waters, created an element of adventure—certainly more than one might find in, say, an office cubicle.

The pictures Mieth took at a logging camp deepen the shoot’s cowboy feel. When not working some of the loggers gathered to sing songs, and the camp cook signaled chow time by ringing a triangular dinner bell.

Mieth’s logging photos never made it into the magazine, and without an accompanying story, we don’t know much about the location off the shoot, beyond that it was in Idaho. We also don’t know much about the loggers themselves, except for what Mieth captured visually. Nor do we know the specific theme of the intended story, which is thus left to our imaginations.

In 2023 nearly 50,000 people worked in the logging industry in the United States, so the business continues. But the practice of driving logs down the river ceased in the 1970s. If it happens at all these days, it’s part of one-day celebration honoring a bygone practice.

The lumber industry in Idaho, 1940.

Hansel Mieth/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Remembering Mercury Morris: A Cool College Photo Shoot

September 23, 2024September 22, 2024 by Bill Syken

Mercury Morris, who died on Sept. 21, 2024, at the age of 77, is best remembered by football fans as a star running back on the Miami Dolphins teams that won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1972 and ’73.

Before going to the pros Morris played his college ball at West Texas State (now known as West Texas A&M), where LIFE reported on this rising star in an October 1968 issue. The magazine said that the arid West Texas landscape was home to one of the most electric athletes in the game:

He plays of the fringe of big-time college football, where the stadiums are half-deserted, the star’s scrapbook fits in his watch pocket, and cows graze just beyond the practice field…..Now in his senior year, Morris at 21 may be the most exciting running back in college football.

The magazine celebrated Morris with an eye-catching photo shoot by Bob Gomel. The costars of the shoot are Morris and the wide open West Texas skies. Throw in a supporting performance by the university’s buffalo statue and the resulting images are pretty darn cool.

In some of the photos Morris had cardboard wings attached to his helmet, a reference to the Greek god inspired his nickname.

LIFE’s story predicted Morris would be taken in the first round of the NFL draft, but he lasted until the third round, when he was selected by the Miami Dolphins. He would play there for seven years and have three Pro Bowl seasons, including in 1972, when the Dolphins went undefeated and Morris led the NFL in touchdowns with 12.

When Morris died, his old NFL team released a statement saying, “He loved the Dolphins, the fans and the community of South Florida and will forever be remembered as one of the greatest players to don the aqua and orange.”

Eugene “Mercury” Morris during his college years at West Texas State, 1968.

West Texas State star football player Eugene “Mercury” Morris

Eugene “Mercury” Morris during his college years at West Texas State, 1968.

West Texas State star football player Eugene “Mercury” Morris, posing with school mascot.

Eugene “Mercury” Morris during his college years at West Texas State, 1968.

Bob Gomel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

“Degrading to Minority and Majority Alike”: The Fight to Vote, 1960

September 10, 2024September 10, 2024 by Bill Syken

The fight for the right to vote for Black people in America was a long and difficult one, and a LIFE story from 1960 provides a vivid illustration of the kinds of obstacles that were encountered in the not-too-distant past.

In its issue of Sept. 19 of that year, LIFE ran a collection of articles examining the state of Black political life in this country, including the right to vote. The topics were wide-ranging, but began with news from Tennessee, where Black people attempting to partake in the electoral process were meeting discouragement in many forms. Here’s how the magazine described it:

Thursday after Thursday in the sweltering summer heat of Brownsville, Tenn., the seat of Haywood County, Negro citizens stood in line, hoping to register as voters. It was a slow process, for reasons no white official seemed ready to explain. Last week fewer than 400 of Haywood’s 15,000 Negroes had seen their names inscribed. In adjoining Fayette County those few Negroes who had successfully insisted upon their right to register were paying a penalty. They were losing jobs and finding themselves unable to sell anything or to buy anything from their white neighbors.

The most striking pictures from this collection by staff photographer Walter Sanders are of those ordinary citizens in Tennessee who dared to have a say in their governance and a result were met with boycotts from local businesses. The NAACP brought food and clothes to help Black people who were shut out of shops because they had registered to vote.

The collection of stories also included one on how protestors trained for sit-ins, a popular form of protest then in the campaign for civil rights. Another story looked at Black politicians such as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and William L. Dawson who had gained elected office, laying the groundwork for Barack Obama to become the first Black president nearly a half-century later.

In its 1960 story LIFE wrote of the incremental nature of change: “The struggle, degrading to minority and majority alike, was far from over, but it was progressing.”

Black people endured an improbably slow wait to get into Haywood County (Tenn.) Courthouse to register to vote, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Black people endured an improbably long wait in the summer sun when they came to register to vote in Haywood County, Tennessee, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Black people endured an inexplicably long wait on a summer afternoon to get into Haywood County (Tenn.) Courthouse to register to vote, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life PIcture Collection/Shutterstock

This Black farmer has his goods boycotted in local stores in Tennessee because he registered to vote, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The NAACP delivered food and clothing to Black people in Tennessee who faced boycotts from local stores after registering to vote, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A woman received clothing provided by the NAACP after local businesses in Tennessee had barred Black people who had registered to vote, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Thad Turner, a bus driver, and his 17 children had to move because of harassment after he registered to vote in Tennessee, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

John W. Kellogg, a city councilman in Cleveland, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Congressman William L. Dawson of Chicago met with constituents, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Congressman William L. Dawson of Illinois spoke with precinct captain Ruth Patillo at a picnic, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life PIcture Collection/Shutterstock

William L. Dawson, a U.S. Congessman from Chicago, was the first Black person to chair a Congressional committee.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Congressman William L. Dawson spoke with Lyndon B. Johnson in 1960; Johnson would become president in 1963 and sign the landmark Voting Rights Act in 1965.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (right) of New York and Rep. Gracie Pfost of Idaho at a congressional committee meeting. 1960

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Corneal A. Davis, a state representative in Illinois, shown here in 1960, served in the legislature from 1943 to 1979.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Floy Clements, the first Black woman to serve in the Illinois state legislature, at political dinner in 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. at a demonstration, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Angelina Jolie’s Inspiration: Maria Callas in LIFE

September 5, 2024September 5, 2024 by Bill Syken

This fall Angelina Jolie takes on her first starring role in three years with the movie Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas. The movie had its premiere on August 29, 2024 at the Venice Film Festival, and is expected to make it to Netflix later in 2024. This continues a recent trend of prestige biopics featuring subjects who were covered heavily in the original run of LIFE magazine, including Robert Oppenheimer and Leonard Bernstein.

There are many ways to measure just how big a deal Maria Callas was during her heyday, and one of them is how many LIFE photographers took their turn shooting her. The list is an impressive one, and it includes Gordon Parks, Margaret Bourke-White, John Dominis, Thomas McAvoy, James Burke and PIerre Boulat.

On one occasion Callas appeared in LIFE not as a subject of a story but rather as its author. In 1959 she took the magazine to defend herself in a piece titled “I Am Not Guilty of All Those Scandals.” She had been accused of feigning illness when she didn’t want to go on, demanding exorbitant rates and other incidents related to her stage career. Callas wrote that all those claims were untrue. She did, however, acknowledge that she was difficult to work with—a label she accepted with pride:

Of course, I am difficult. An artist who tries sincerely to meet the demands of operatic music must work under extraordinary tension. Great music cannot be achieved without hard work and high standards. If I were willing to accept second-best opera, if I did not care about quality, I could very easily establish a reputation for always being sweet, charming and amenable to every suggestion, a completely docile soprano in every respect. But that is too high a price to pay for such a reputation…I see no reason to pretend I am happy and cheerful about second-rate music—or about those who are willing to see it performed.

After going through a point-by-point rebuttal of various claims that went on for several pages, Callas concluded “I am not an angel and do not pretend to be. That is not one of my roles. But I am not the devil, either. I am a woman and a serious artist, and I would like to be so judged.”

In addition to her storied opera career, the magazine also wrote about Callas’s personal life, including in 1959 when she separated from her husband, Italian industrialist Giovanni Meneghini, and was whisked away on a private jet by Aristotle Onassis. LIFE reported in ’59 that Callas got to know Onassis “when she and her husband cruised the Mediterranean in his yacht in a party that included Sir Winston and Lady Churchill and Onassis’s 28-year-old wife Tina.”

Onassis would in 1968 famously leave Callas for Jacqueline Kennedy. Callas’s relationship with Onassis is central to the Angelina Jolie’s movie—which is directed by Pablo Larrain, who also directed the 2016 biopic Jackie.

Maria Callas following a performance of Norma at the Civic Opera House in Chicago, 1954.

John Dominis/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Opera singer Maria Callas at a post performance gala following her opening night performance of the opera “Norma” at the Civic Opera House in Chicago, 1954.

John Dominis/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock