When LIFE magazine visited Big Sur in 1959, the Esalen Institute was three years from opening, but the coastal community had long been attracting free-thinking types.

This important truth is one that suffuses this collection of harvest-time photos taken during LIFE’s original run from 1936 to 1972. The crops being harvested in these photos include corn, …

LIFE magazine was fortunate enough to visit Cabo Blanco in 1959, when the club was still in its heyday. Staff photographer Frank Schershel captured the fisherman out at sea and along the …

Anita Ekberg was twenty years old when she first appeared in LIFE magazine. In 1951 the magazine breathlessly introduced this relative unknown model to readers in a story headlined “ …

Parks’ photo of Gould bent over the piano in his signature posture as he records Bach while sound engineers hover overhead is one of the most popular in the LIFE print store.

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

The photos by George Silk capture the unique way of life in Northwest Angle. Women made their own butter in hand-cranked churns, and gathered for quilting bees for amusement. Residents …

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 …

Here’s how LIFE described the air of secrecy that permeated Oak Ridge: Construction workers by the thousands came, labored and, sworn to secrecy, departed silently. Names famous the …

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 …