One of the world’s largest magazine publishers today announced that it’s poised to give the Internet’s search and advertising leader access to its prized collection of more than 10 million images.
Officials at Manhattan-based Time Inc. say that 97 percent of the images in their LIFE photo archive – a collection soon to be accessible through Google (News - Alert) – never have been displayed to the public, including works from photographers Alfred Eisenstaedt, Margaret Bourke-White, Gordon Parks, and W. Eugene Smith.
According to LIFE’s president, Andy Blau, for 70 years, the magazine has been about the power of photography to tell a story.
“LIFE will now reach a broader audience and engage them online with the incredible depth and breadth of the LIFE photo archive from serious world events, to Hollywood celebrities to whimsical photographs,” Blau said.
Go here to view the archive.
On its hosted blog, Google Software Engineer Paco Galanes said the initiative is part of Google’s mission to organize and make accessible “all (of) the world’s information.”
“This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s,” Galanes said. “Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. We’re digitizing them so that everyone can easily experience these fascinating moments in time.”
To search for images in the LIFE photo archive alone, users are instructed to Add “source:life” to any Google image search.
Let’s have a look.
The first thing to notice about the collection is the high resolution of its photos, and the information placed beside them.
For example, look at this screen capture of a photo of New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle following a bad at-bat at Yankee Stadium in 1965, by John Dominis. Beside the photo is listed the date, location, time taken, photographer and size of photograph, with an option to view “related” photos:
Ganales said it was a “thrill” to explore the archive, and said one of his favorites was this image by Eisenstaedt of children watching a puppet show, snapped in 1963 during Guignol’s “Saint George and the Dragon” in the Tuileries Garden in Paris:
“Just as the dragon is slain, some children cry out in a combination of horror and delight, while others are taken aback in shock,” Ganales writes. “Every child is consumed with emotion, masterfully captured by Eisenstaedt’s camera.”
For Time Inc. Executive Vice President John Squires, Google recognizes the rich value of the photo archive and worked with the company to bring it to millions of consumers.
“Consistent with the launch of the TIME Archive, PEOPLE Archive and the SI Vault, this initiative continues our efforts to build valuable new revenue opportunities from our rich heritage,” Squires said.
According to TMC (News - Alert) President Rich Tehrani, the revenue model in this deal for Life will be selling photos on Qoop.
“Moreover, Life.com indicates these photos will also be available on this site – or perhaps there will be a redirect to Google’s hosted area,” he said.
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