Ice fishers drop their lines through holes cut or drilled through a frozen-over lake. They can either sit outside and wait for a bite, or they can hunker in the relative comfort of an ice shack that they have hauled out onto the lake. One of the more distinctive photos in Kelley’s set is an overhead shot from inside a fishing shack in which a family is playing cards around a table and appears to be enjoying a cozy night in a living room—until you notice the rectangular fishing holes cut through the carpet and into the ice beneath.

Perhaps Kelley’s most inventive shot appears to have shot up through the ice as a fish is caught on a spear, with the delighted fishers visible in the background.

Kelley’s pictures also contains what would surely be a candidate for the most “Minnesota” photo ever taken—it shows people playing hockey on a lake with an ice-fishing camp in the background. (The image would be even more Minnesotan if one of the players was revealed to be a young Bob Dylan, which is not entirely implausible: the native of Hibbing is said to have both fished and played hockey in his youth.)

An ice hockey game by a fishing camp is a distraction from a distraction. Fair enough. To get through a long winter you need all the help you can get.

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

An ice shack is hauled onto a lake during ice fishing season in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A child ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

People playing ice hockey at an ice fishing camp in Glenwood, Minnesota, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ice fishing, 1962.

Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post The Joys of Minnesota Ice Fishing appeared first on LIFE.

At that point Salinger hadn’t made any public appearances for years, and he had even asked his publisher to remove his author’s photo from Catcher in the Rye so he wouldn’t be recognized. It was clear that any new photos of the iconic figure would be a rarity. LIFE reporters had located Salinger’s fortress of seclusion—a home in Cornish, New Hampshire that was surrounded by an eight-foot fence. Russell’s plan was to park at least a half mile up the road, walk the rest of the way, hide in the bushes with a telephoto lens, and wait for Salinger to show himself. It was winter, and Russell had a cold. The first two days, Russell endured drizzly weather without even a glimpse of the author.  But on the third day, Salinger opened the home’s gate to let out his dog, and then briefly stepped outside himself. Russell took aim, hoping that Salinger’s dog wouldn’t flush him out. “I got off three or four frames,” he says, before the author disappeared and Russell left with his photographic treasure.

While hiding in bushes was not the norm for Russell, it could serve as a metaphor for his basic approach to photography, which was to make himself invisible to his subjects. Once in their presence, he would talk to them as little as possible, in the hope that they would forget he was there and act naturally. “My style of photography is to keep my mouth shut and my eyes open,” says Russell, 91.

That technique served him well for a particularly memorable story—photographing young Bob Dylan in his Greenwich Village apartment. Russell first met Dylan in the fall of 1961, months before he released his self-titled debut album. Russell was tipped off by a publicist that this newcomer to the music scene was someone worth paying attention to. Russell saw Dylan perform downtown and the next day pitched him a story. “I explained to him that I wanted to do a story on the struggles of an up and coming folk singer in New York,” he says. Dylan agreed, but after their shoots Russell, a freelancer, couldn’t find any takers for the story. He recalls playing Dylan’s music for editors at the Saturday Evening Post in a formal conference room around a big oak table and them losing interest after one song. He was only able to make use of the photos after Dylan had been widely recognized as a revolutionary songwriter and the voice of a generation. In 2015 Russell published a book of his photos of Dylan’s early years. When people ask him to describe what the future Nobel Prize winner was like as a young man, the photographer tells people “I haven’t the vaguest idea,” owing to his fly-on-the-wall approach. “There was no verbal interaction between us, just the bare minimum,” Russell says. “At some point he must have given me the address of his apartment.”

Working in the 1960s, Russell captured many images relating to race and to civil rights. He photographed Malcolm X giving a fiery speech in Harlem, with the middle-aged women in the audience reacting as if they were bobby soxers at a concert. He shot a star-studded jazz party fundraiser for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the home of baseball great Jackie Robinson, with performances by Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck and others. Russell was in Mississippi for the trial of the murder of three civil rights workers in 1964, capturing images of African-American prayer meetings and of a smiling Sheriff Lawrence Rainey after federal charges against him had been dismissed.

Russell served as both photographer and reporter for a memorable story in LIFE’s Dec. 8, 1961 issue titled “From Washington to New York, Four Lanes to Trouble.” The story documented how the segregated businesses on U.S Route 40 would refuse service to African diplomats headed from the United Nations to Washington D.C., and Russell captured quotes that were startlingly brazen. When Russell asked a waitress why she denied service to Malick Sow, the ambassador from Chad, she shamelessly explained, “He looked like just an ordinary run-of-the-mill n***** to me. I couldn’t tell he was an ambassador.”

When talking about his most memorable images, Russell mentions “one of the saddest things I ever photographed.” On the morning of Sept. 15, 1958 in northern New Jersey a commuter train derailed and went off a bridge, plunging into Newark Bay and killing 48 people. He captured the moment when the train was lifted from the waters, and later went to the funeral home and photographed the wife and mother of the train’s engineer mourning together.

“The poignant moments, that’s what I set out to capture,” Russell says. “They’re the ones that stay with me.”

Author J. D. Salinger outside his home in Cornish, 1961.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Author J. D. Salinger’s dog outside his home in Cornish, N.H., 1961.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Bob Dylan in his Greenwich Village apartment.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Bob Dylan in his Greenwich Village apartment.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Bob Dylan in his Greenwich Village apartment.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Malcolm X delivered a fiery speech to a crowd in Harlem, 1963.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Listeners reacted to a speech by Malcolm X in Harlem, New York City, 1963.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Baseball star Jackie Robinson and his wife, Rachel, hosted a jazz party to raise money to support the work of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Dizzy Gillespie performed at a jazz party hosted by baseball great Jackie Robinson to raise money to support the work of Martin Luther King, 1963.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Dave Brubeck performed at the home of Jackie Robinson in Stamford, Ct., for a fundraiser to support the work of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Adam Malick Sow, Chad’s ambassador to the U.N., was among those refused service at segregated businesses on the road from New York to Washington D.C.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mrs. Leroy Merritt was unapologetic in explaining why she refused to serve an African diplomat traveling from New York to Washington, D.C.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A group of women held a prayer meeting for the slaying of three civil rights workers in Mississippi.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Sheriff Lawrence A. Rainey (second from left) left the federal building after his case regarding the three slain civil rights workers was dropped.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A commuter train that derailed and went off a bridge was pulled from the waters of Newark Bay in New Jersey; 48 passengers and crew died in the accident, 1958.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mourning together were the mother and wife of a train engineer who died when his train plunged into Newark Bay in New Jersey, killing 48.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Union leader Jimmy Hoffa shook hands with marshals in the yard of a federal prison after being convicted for jury tampering, 1967.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Commuters walked through New York’s Grand Central Station, lit only by flood lights, during a large power blackout of the northeastern United States, November 9, 1965.

Ted Russell/Life Pictures/Getty Images

The post Finding the Elusive J.D. Salinger, and More: A Photographer’s Tales appeared first on LIFE.

“I threw myself, one hundred percent, into every shoot,” Ray said. “And I loved it.”

For this Photographer Spotlight, however, LIFE.com focussed on one aspect of Ray’s varied portfolio: celebrity portraits.

Even a partial roll call of the stars Bill Ray photographed for LIFE reads like a Who’s Who of Sixties pop culture: Marilyn Monroe, Sinatra, the Beatles, Natalie Wood, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis, Steve McQueen, Jackie Kennedy and on and on and on. What’s truly remarkable is that he managed to capture something utterly distinctive about each one.

It’s difficult to imagine one photographer capable of showing us something elemental about personalities as wildly disparate as, say, Brigitte Bardot, Sonny Liston and Woody Allen, but Bill Ray did just that, again and again.

Some photo captions in this gallery include Ray’s memories of what it was like to photograph these people. But we’ve also included, below, a few of the longer and often hilarious stories Bill Ray told about documenting the lives and careers of the 20th century’s most famous public figures.

[Buy Bill Ray’s My LIFE in Photography, from which some of these memories, slightly edited, are taken.]

Marilyn Monroe Sings “Happy Birthday” to JFK, May 19, 1962:

I was on assignment for LIFE at the old Madison Square Garden that night one of many photographers down in front of the stage. The police, with directions from the Secret Service, were forcing the press into a tight group behind a rope. I knew that all the “rope-a-dopes” would get the same shot, and that would not work for LIFE. I squeezed between the cops and took off looking for a better place.

It seemed that I climbed forever. When I found a pipe railing to rest the lens on (exposure was strictly by guess), I could see JFK through the telephoto. When the moment came, the Garden went black. Total silence.

One spotlight snapped on, and there was Marilyn, in that dress, crystals sparkling and flashing. She was smiling, with everyone on the edge of their seats. Then, in her breathy, sexy, unique voice, looking the entire time right at JFK, she sang.

In two-and-a-half months, Marilyn would be dead. In eighteen months, Kennedy would be assassinated; Vietnam would turn into our worst nightmare; Camelot would be gone. But that night, Marilyn’s brief song stopped the world.

 

Brigitte Bardot Throws a Tantrum on the Set of Shalako, Spain, 1968:

I rode with Bardot to the set many times in her white Rolls-Royce. On one of those mornings, B.B. saw a stray, starving dog and ordered her driver to stop. It was love at first sight. The starving mutt loved B.B. and the Rolls, and B.B. loved the mutt. B.B. put all her retainers on the case. She would make a perfect life for this “adorable” dog.

Her hairdresser bathed the dog. Her chauffeur tore off in the Rolls for filet mignon. The dog never left her side until the fourth day when he keeled over dead from too much of the good life.

B.B. started to cry and worked herself up to uncontrollable wailing. She locked her dressing room door. Cast and crew [including co-star Sean Connery] were standing by. Lunch time came and went. The wailing went on and on. The whole day was lost; mucho dinero.

 

Woody Allen in Vegas, 1966:

It was a pivotal year for Woody. He published stories in the New Yorker, wrote and directed his first film, What’s Up Tiger Lily? and had a Broadway hit, Don’t Drink the Water. He was on fire, and LIFE wanted to celebrate him with a cover story. I was given the job of shooting Woody in Las Vegas, along with any other photos I could get of his other activities.

The Woody I met at Caesars Palace was one of the quietest, most cooperative people I’ve ever worked with. The only problem was that he didn’t do anything except stay in his room, write, and practice his clarinet until it was time for his standup routine. Then I remembered the kitschy nude Roman statues in front of Caesars. With trepidation, I asked Woody if he would pose with one of the nudes. He thought it was a funny idea and said “sure.” That was a relief and I pressed my luck, asking him if he would wear a red sweater that I happened to have with me.

“Is it cashmere?” he asked. It wasn’t; it was wool.

Woody said he was allergic to wool, but after some pleading, he agreed to wear it.

I needed the contrast with the white statue, and a bit of red never hurt for a cover shoot. The statue seemed to inspire Woody, and he really came to life. He hugged and vamped and swung around. It was tremendous fun.

Phone calls and telexes from New York assured me the shots were great and would run with the story.

But LIFE was a weekly and would use a news cover whenever they could. Unfortunately for me, some damn thing happened that week and LIFE scrapped the Woody Allen cover. It was heartbreaking but I still had the great thrill of working with one on the comic geniuses of my time.

Pvt. Elvis Presley in Brooklyn, 1958, before leaving the States to serve in Germany.

Bill RayThe LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation

Gina Lollobrigida signed autographs in front of New York’s old Metropolitan Opera House, 1958.

Bill Ray

Frank Sinatra on the set of the movie, “Can-Can,” 1959.

Bill Ray

Elizabeth Taylor 1959

Bill Ray

John Wayne, Toots Shor, 1959

Bill Ray

Jackie Kennedy 1960

Bill Ray

Ella Fitzgerald 1962

Bill Ray

Marilyn Monroe 1962

Bill Ray

Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, 1963

Bill Ray

Natalie Wood 1963

Bill Ray

Jill St. John 1963

Bill Ray

Marlon Brando and Paul Newman 1963

Bill Ray

Senta Berger 1964

Bill Ray Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The Beatles 1964

Bill Ray Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Woody Allen 1966

Bill Ray

Michael Caine 1966

Bill Ray Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Ray Charles performed at Carnegie Hall, 1966.

Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation

Nancy Sinatra 1966

Bill Ray Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen 1967

Bill Ray Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Lew Alcindor 1967

Bill Ray Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Brigitte Bardot 1968

Bill Ray

Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski 1968

Bill Ray Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jane Fonda and daughter 1971

Bill Ray Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

George Harrison and Bob Dylan at the Concert for Bangladesh in New York, 1971.

Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation

Ann Margaret 1972

Bill Ray

Diahann Carroll and David Frost

Bill Ray Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The post Photographer Spotlight: Bill Ray’s Classic Celebrity Portraits appeared first on LIFE.