Carl Mydans

Carl Mydans was born on May 20, 1907 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA as Carl Mayer Mydans. He was married to Shelly Smith Mydans.

Photographed landmarks of 20th century history: the gaunt faces of 1930s dust-bowl farmers; Gen. Douglas MacArthur wading ashore in the Philippines; Frenchwomen having their heads shaved as punishment for "collaboration" with the Nazis; the Japanese surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri in 1945; and homebound rail commuters on Nov. 22, 1963, reading newspapers with the headline "President Shot Dead."

Joined The Boston Globe as a reporter while a student at Boston University. Later became part of the original photography staff when Life magazine was started in 1936 as a bold new experiment in pictorial journalism.

He and wife Shelley were taken prisoners in Manila by invading Japanese in 1942. They spent almost two years in Manila and Shanghai until they were released in a prisoner exchange.

His wife, Shelley Smith Mydans, was also a journalist, and they often teamed up. During World War II, they were imprisoned by the Japanese for nearly two years. Mydans refused a Japanese offer of freedom if he would take photos for them. The couple was repatriated in a 1943 prisoner of war exchange, and they immediately returned to photographing the war.

One of his most memorable shots was on a commuter train. The shot depicted all the commuters reading the headliner "President Shot Dead" on November 22, 1963.