The following is from the introduction to LIFE’s special tribute issue, Jimmy Carter: A Noble Life, which is available online and at newsstands. When James Earl Carter died at his home in Plains, Georgia, on …

Explore 1960s within the LIFE photography vault, one of the most prestigious & privately held archives from the US & around the World.

The following is adapted from the introduction to LIFE’s newcspecial issue 100 Photographs: The Most Important Pictures of All Time and the Stories Behind Them, available at newsstands and online:

LIFE described the planning of the wedding as “a full-time job,” and Leen documented all that went into it. That included the dress shopping, the cake selection, the addressing of the invitations, and more.

LIFE staff photographer Nina Leen captured the mix of lifestyles to be found in Fairfield County as the newly arrived businessmen mixed in with farmers and also artsier types such as magazine …

What’s even more surprising is the many moods that LIFE photographers were able to achieve when they brought their subjects under—or in most cases, on top of—the covers. The most obvious mood …

LIFE recalls the Orient Express of the last century through photographs made in 1950 -- evocative, atmospheric pictures from another time.

The breadth of the GE operations underlines the great variety of activity that legendary LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt documented when he gained access to the General Electric …

The following text is adapted from the introduction to LIFE’s new special issue The Smurfs, available at newsstands and online. In 2011, people around the world donned white caps and pants and painted …

The actress, born Bettyjane Greer, had actually been in LIFE magazine twice before that ’47 cover. In 1942 she appeared, unnamed, as one of three women modeling the uniforms of the W.A.A.C.s, the …