Peter Stackpole with his camera. (Photo by Hans Knopf/The LIFE Images Collection)

Peter Stackpole with his camera. (Photo by Hans Knopf/The LIFE Images Collection)

His mother was a painter. His father was a sculptor: “When my father saw me with this little camera at his stone yard, he said, ‘You don’t need that thing.’ He reached in his pocket and took out a pencil and made a sketch of me in no time, and said. This is all you need.'” But his father had only himself to blame for introducing Peter Stackpole (1913-1997) to the legendary Edward Weston. “I was spellbound looking at his work because it was so clear and precise, with beautiful forms and beautiful values .. . when I showed Weston some of the pictures I had taken of building the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, he encouraged me. Ansel Adams did too.” This attention proved to be heaven-sent, and Stackpole became one of LIFE’S original quartet of photographers. He could see a picture, and react, instantly. “I never photographed a subject more than one or two exposures. Then I’d go on to something else,” he said. “I don’t admire photographers who use motors.” 

Adapted from The Great LIFE Photographers

Female pilot of the US Women's Air Force Service posed with her leg up on the wing of an airplane. (Photo by Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Female pilot of the US Women’s Air Force Service posed with her leg up on the wing of an airplane. (Photo by Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Peter Stackpole with his camera standing on a suspension cable as he covers the construction of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. (Photo by Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Peter Stackpole with his camera standing on a suspension cable as he covers the construction of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. (Photo by Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Joan Fontaine looking at the Best Actress Oscar she won for her role in the film "Suspicion." (Photo by Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Joan Fontaine looking at the Best Actress Oscar she won for her role in the film “Suspicion.” (Photo by Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

More Like This

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

Ballerinas at George Balanchine's American School of Ballet gathered around accompanist during rehearsal. (Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Leopard about to kill a terrified baboon. (Photo by John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

John Dominis

Light pattern produced by a time exposure of the light tipped rotor blades of a grounded helicopter. (Photo by Andreas Feininger/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Andreas Feininger

Students from Chiao Tung University during an Anti-American demonstration. (Photo by Jack Birns/ The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation). Photographer

Jack Birns

An elderly Chinese man ice skating. (Photo by Jack Wilkes/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Jack Wilkes