1938 - 1960 LIFE Bernard Hoffman

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Further information on Bernard Hoffman Acclaimed Photo-Journalist For LIFE Magazine

"These images are dedicated to the late photojournalist Bernard Hoffman (my teacher), one of the first LIFE Magazine photographers allowed into Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped. The images he brought to public view to this day remain shocking. Bernie ultimately became a victim of the radiation when ALS struck him down. These images are dedicated to those participants in the forum who share experiences and who live the spirit of people helping people. These individuals are an inspiration to all of us who are afflicted with some neurological disorder and to those who care for others in a similar situation. They deserve a smile, a laugh, the rekindling of memories and a view of the world of which they are an integral part despite their individual circumstances."

"RJ"

http://neuro-mancer.mgh.harvard.edu/photographs/photographs.html

Jeff Goldman-
When Jeff Goldman was in high school he met a retired photographer named Bernard Hoffman who had been a photographer for Life magazine. He taught a workshop from his nearby home, and asked Jeff if he wanted lessons in photography and darkroom work. This launched Jeff's pursuit of a career as a photographer as Hoffman became his mentor. He studied with Bernie until leaving for the MD Institute College of Art in 1978. After working for the Maryland Historical Society as their staff photographer he joined Heather Coburn in forming Coburn-Goldman Photography.

It all Began In 1938 With This Letter

Life magazine, on page six of its 5 December 1949 issue, published most of a Nabokov letter about butterfly wings in Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Delights. (See Selected Letters, pp. 93-94.) On the facing page, seven, is a letter from a H. Huber Clark of New York City about the first photograph ever taken by an "ape." Mr. (or Mrs. or Miss) Clark writes, "Photographer Bernard Hoffman's Cookie (Life, Nov. 14) was not the first ape to take a picture. My protegee, whose name was also Cookie, was an advanced shutterbug more than seven years ago when an article appeared in This Week magazine Oct. 11, 1942..." Accompanying the letter are two photographs, one of the "first Cookie" examining a box camera (a Kodak brownie?), and one of humans looking into Cookie's cage, taken, of course, from Cookie's point of view. The bars of the cage stand out more than the human heads.

10/28/1946
One-room school
Bernard Hoffman

http://www.life.com/Life/covers/1946/cv102846.html

Person Involved with Bernard Hoffman In LIFE Publications

Ray Mackland, The Editor

Tom Flaherty, An Editor

Sid James, Staff

Wilson Hicks, Staff

Photo credits in this issue are on page 77 and 25.