Even if you didn’t read Life magazine when it was in print, you’ve probably seen old issues and are aware of the impact this great weekly had on American magazine publishing. But right behind Life was Look, an equally excellent publication that in some ways had even more influence than Life.
At its peak in 1967, more than 9.2 million copies of Look were printed on a ten-color printing press designed specifically for the magazine. The best-selling issue entailed printing more than 1 billion individual pages.
Look showcased photography from the likes of Richard Avedon and a young Stanley Kubrick (before he moved on to film directing). All photos in this column were published in Look between 1937 and 1971, when the magazine folded, a victim of high postage costs and a recession in advertising spending. Click on any image for a larger version.
In 1965, engineers from paper manufacturer Kimberley Clark designed an innovative printing process named Look-Kromatic, which used a first-ever blade system to apply coating to printing paper for a smoother surface. That, combined with a ten-color printing process, gave the magazine a unique appearance. It encouraged experimentation in the darkroom and in the photography, such as these portraits of the Beatles done by Richard Avedon.
In many ways Look personified the Sixties, both in the bright colors and editorial coverage, which was more liberal and “alternative” than competitors such as Life and Saturday Evening Post. Look published longer essays along with the rich photography. Here are images of op-art fashion, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, and a “flower child” at a war protest.
Go to page 2 for photos of famous comedians, disgraced royalty, surrealist painters, and more.
This article was last modified on May 17, 2023
This article was first published on November 5, 2009
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who took the photograph of janis joplin?
I currently work for a company that exists thanks to LOOK Magazine. There are still numerous issues of LOOK that were framed and hang throughout the company as a tribute to from where we came. I still see people periodically who actually worked at LOOK before its demise. I’m not sure if we still have people working who were former LOOK employees, but we probably do. I remember driving by the corporate building with my family as a child after the closing was announced and also remember that people felt sad about its closing. It was a completely different era when you could better trust what was published. There really wasn’t a need to read it and rate it first to see if it was fit to allow on your coffee table. Publishers where more responsible then. Thanks for the article Gene and thanks to LOOK and great people who fulfilled the distribution of the magazine. Because of them I have a good job with a successful company which has existed since 1972.
Superb, Gene! Please keep it up. I was born in 1937 on a little farm in Nebraska, and remember so many of the LOOK and LIFE photos. Even though my folks were poor, reading was an important activity on our winter days and summer evenings. Dad subscribed not only to LOOK, but also to Popular Mechanics (I learned a lot from those!), Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest and more! In addition, I took out several books a week when I went to High School a few blocks from the town library. From the Art and Photography books I read then, I became a Photographer, Printer in top quality magazines and just recently retired. Kudos to the to the Iowa boy who started LOOK!
Nice article and really enjoyed. These 2 magazines were also staples in my growing up – and agree a quite different perspective than one can get from a screen. Unfortunately, many won’t know the thrill of developing film in a darkroom. Love the new technology – but I hope the roots are still being taught in photography classes. Makes for a better understanding of photography and yes magazine ads.
Thanks Gene. Always enjoy.
I love the real photographs Gene, they’re not the over-edited digital fantasies that we’re fed a regular diet of now.
I doubt that a magazine today (except a supermarket tabloid chronicling this or that break-up or breakdown) would run a photo of a celebrity showing a yellowing bruise on her arm or lines under her eyes… That photograph of Marilyn is so real – with her standing there so fragile and ephemeral – it makes you feel like you are seeing her for the first time, stripped of the trappings that celebrity photos so often have.
I grew up with Look and especially remember those amazing pictures of the ‘Fab Four’. I would posit that only folks who visit style/photograpy blogs see anything even remotely like this wonderful photography in media today. Print lovers must resort to coffee table books…