In the Library of Congress | Other Institutions: Relating to Look | Other Institutions: Photojournalism Collections

In the Library of Congress

Prints and Photographs Division
URL: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/

Relating to Look Magazine and Look Staff

Charlotte Brooks - Images made for Look Magazine (Unprocessed in PR 13 CN 1994:017):
Approximately 25,000 photographs (negatives, photographic prints, contact sheets) and accompanying card file. Special arrangements are required to consult this material (see Access to Unprocessed Materials

Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection: Several Look photographers first worked for the Farm Security Administration and/or the Office of War Information during the 1930s and 1940s. Among them: Arthur Rothstein, John Vachon and Russell Lee. The FSA/OWI photographs are available online and offer a point of comparison. More information

Look, v. 10-35 (1946-1971) [microfilm]
Published issues of Look, useful for locating published images and for comparison to unpublished material.

Look magazine picture research files (Unprocessed in PR 13 CN 1995:031) About 215,000 photographs, ca. 1935-1971, acquired from Columbia University. The photographs were gathered (not made) by Look, apparently for research purposes. They include wire service and other commercial photographs of world news events. The magazine gave the file to Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1972. The material has not been organized. Special arrangements are required to consult it (see Access to Unprocessed Materials).

Arthur Rothstein Collection (Unprocessed in PR 06 CN 850 and PR 13 CN 1981:273):
Approximately 5,500 items from various stages of his career, including his Look work. Special arrangements are required to consult this material (see Access to Unprocessed Materials.

Other Photojournalism Collections

New York World-Telegram & Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection
About one million photographs that the New York World-Telegram & Sun newspaper assembled between the 1890s and 1967 (chiefly 1920 to 1967). The collection includes a biographical section of portraits and other images related to specific people (about three-quarters of the collection) and a subject/geographical file which contains images related to topical subjects and places. More information

U.S. News and World Report Magazine Photograph Collection: Almost 1.2 million original negatives (primarily black & white) and 45,000 contact sheets donated by the U.S. News & World Report, Inc. The collection consists primarily of photographs taken by staff of the U.S. News & World Report Magazine between 1952 and 1986. Coverage strengths include: politics, government, economics, industry, education, domestic life, transportation, communication, health care, and housing. More information

Access to bound issues of Look (Call number: AP2 .L79) and other Look/Cowles Communications publications.

Manuscript Division
URL: http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/

Papers of Arthur Rothstein. About 3,100 items. Includes documents relating to the Look photographic department and photographic library, lists of photographs by Rothstein, and speeches by Look editors and publishers. [View catalog record]

Audio tapes of interviews Prints & Photographs Division staff held with individuals who offer insights on Look and the context in which it operated have been transferred to the Recorded Sound Reference Center. The interviews are as follows:

Former Look and Cowles Communication Staff Members:

• Cal Bernstein, Staff Photographer, interviewed 6-12-95
• Fleur Cowles, editor of Flair, interviewed, 11-13-96
• Paul Fusco, Staff Photographer, interviewed 10-6-98
• Stanley Tretick, Staff Photographer, interviewed 6-2-94
  

About Look and American Photojournalism

• Miles Barth, then curator of a one-person Arthur Rothstein exhibition, International Center for Photography; comments regarding Arthur Rothstein recorded 5-18-94
• Jill (Davidson) Brett, Director, Office of Communications, Library of Congress; comments about being the subject of the Look job, "Roomates (working girls, Wash. D.C.)" [retrieve catalog record for this job] recorded 7-15-97
• Mike Carlbach, University of Miami Photojournalism professor; comments regarding American photojournalism recorded 6-16-94
• Alan Fern, former Chief, Prints and Photographs Division; comments regarding the Library's acquisition of the Look Magazine Photograph Collection recorded 4-28-94
• Wendy Kozol, Associate Professor, Oberlin College, specialist on visual culture; comments regarding American photojournalism, with special reference to Life magazine recorded 1-17-96
• Carl and Shelley Mydans, retired photographer and reporter for LIFE, respectively; comments regarding American photojournalism, with special reference to Life and Look magazines recorded 5-10-94
• John Peterson, retired Professor of Journalism, Loyalist College, Belleville, Ontario. Biography of Arthur Rothstein in progress; comments regarding American photojournalism recorded 4-9-97

In Other Institutions

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Relating to Look Magazine and Look Staff

Columbia University
Columbia University Libraries
New York, NY
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/

• Reminiscences of Simon Michael Bessie: oral history, 1976. Discusses career in publishing, including Look magazine. (NXCP87-A173)
• Reminiscences of George Horace Gallup: oral history, 1962. Discusses early newspaper readership surveys; journalism teaching 1929-32; principles of effective advertising; magazine publishing: Literary Digest, Reader's Digest, Saturday Evening Post, Look, etc. (NXCP89-A34)

Museum of the City of New York
Prints and Photographs Collection
New York, NY
http://www.mcny.org/collections/67.html

During the 1940s and 1950s Look sent material relating to New York City to the Museum of the City of New York. Also includes substantial holdings of Stanley Kubrick photos made for Look.

University of Dubuque - Charles C. Myers Library
University Special Collections
Dubuque, IA
http://www.dbq.edu/library/collections1.cfm?ID=6

Papers of Archie Lieberman, photographer for Look, 1952-1972.

University of Iowa Libraries
Special Collections Department
Iowa City, IA
http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/

Papers of Merl Armitage, at one time, president of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and art director of Quick and Look Magazine. Collection Dates: 1932-1964. 2.5 linear ft.

Wisconsin Historical Society Archives
Madison, WI
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/libraryarchives/

"Look Magazine Records, 1948-1966." (From RLG Archival Resources entry, consulted 6/2004): "Records and correspondence of one of America's leading photo journalistic periodicals, Included are correspondence, financial records, legal files, minutes, reports, speech files, story proposals, interbureau communications, personnel records, in-house publications and production reports, and other documents. Routine correspondence makes up roughly half of the collection."

Photojournalism Collections

A list of newspaper photograph morgues started by the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division and later maintained by the University of Texas at Austin is available at: http://crawls.archive.org/katrina/20051109175532/http://www.cah.utexas.edu/newspapers/photomorgues.html .

Life
http://www.life.com/Life/

Commercial site offering highlights from Life magazine.

National Archives and Records Administration
Washington, D.C.
http://www.archives.gov/research/formats/photographs-dc.html

Records of the U.S. Information Agency (Record Group 306). Includes photographs used in USIA-issued magazines, including America Illustrated, Topic, and Dialogue. In some cases, also includes issues of the magazines themselves.

Time & Life Pictures
http://www.timelifepictures.com/MS_TIMEPIX/source/home/home.aspx

Commercial site offering highlights from Time and Life magazines.