Bill Syken

In 1958, a group of 48 young American women traveled to France to make their social debut in the most grand of settings—the Palace of Versailles. The Versailles debutante ball was designed to be a counterpart to a New York City high society event called A... See more

Times Square has long been known for its advertising displays. The Manhattan crossroads was termed an “illuminated theater of American commerce” in one history. And in 1948 one Times Square billboard ventured for theatricality in a way that caught the att... See more

A 1960 LIFE story carried the headline “Lovely Land Too Far Away.” The story was about the country of New Zealand, which is distant to everyone living in America, but must have seemed especially so to LIFE staff photographer George Silk when he was missin... See more

Wonder Woman gets more hype—and not without reason—but the first female character with her own comic book title was actually Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Sheena was basically a female version of Tarzan, and if she doesn’t linger in the collective consciou... See more

Though February 21, 2026 the Staley Wise Gallery in New York City is running a show called “Looking at LIFE,” which features some of the most popular photos from the history of the magazine. In this brief interview the gallery’s director, George Kocis, ex... See more