This month marks the anniversary of the first issue of LIFE magazine published by its new owner Henry Luce. From 1883, LIFE had been a humor and general interest magazine. Luce bought the title in 1936. Convinced that pictures could tell a story instead of just illustrating text, Luce launched the new LIFE on November 23rd of that year. LIFE developed as the definitive photo magazine in the U.S., giving as much space and importance to images as to words. Read more (Wikipedia).

Yousuf Karsh photographed dozens of people for the magazine, beginning with this portrait of Henry Luce in 1944. Click here to see the list of LIFE Sitters.

This portrait of Luce can be seen in a new special issue “LIFE: Pearl Harbor 80 Years Later.”