This month LIFE joins other major collections like the Associated Press and the British Museum to launch its own set of NFTs.
NFTS (non-fungible tokens) are one-of-a-kind digital items with blockchain-managed ownership. LIFE will collaborate with the NFT marketplace KnownOrigin, and distribute exclusive drops of their iconic photographs via their profile, beginning with the first on April 14.
Founded in 1936, LIFE, the first photography publication in the United States, coined the term “photo essay” and established a unique visual storytelling style in popular culture. With work from trailblazing photographer Margaret Bourke-White, the first drop offers the opportunity for serious collectors to own selected authentic, important pieces of photography from the cover essay of LIFE’s first issue.
“LIFE always seeks to share its incredible photography with new communities,” said Tom Rowland, President of the Picture Collection. “There is a growing number of photography enthusiasts on Web3, and we see this as a way to engage with new audiences around photojournalism and art.”
David Moore, one of the KnownOrigin co-founders commented, “We are delighted that LIFE has partnered with KnownOrigin to launch their journey into NFTs. LIFE is an iconic and historically important brand with compelling and instantly recognizable imagery, including famous LIFE magazine covers…We have recently seen photography grow in importance and collectability within the NFT community. The LIFE Picture Collection is unrivaled in its breadth and variety of awe-inspiring content. It’s an honor to have LIFE on our platform.”
The drop will include an auction with a reserve, rare editions, and other pieces with a larger limited run and items will be priced according to their rarity. It will also be accompanied by Twitter Spaces and a new LIFE Discord channel to connect audiences with the brand.
LIFE and KnownOrigin will feature a virtual gallery in Decentraland on KnownOrigin’s plot of land. As a continuation of LIFE’s cutting-edge philosophy, the gallery will form an immersive world celebrating LIFE’s inception and its digital form. The LIFE gallery platform will display NFTS and additional LIFE photography, allowing collectors to display their unique pieces.
LIFE will offset any emissions generated from the NFT minting process from sales. A portion of the proceeds from the NFT sales will also be donated to charities chosen by the LIFE team, with the first drop benefitting the Malala Fund.
Here’s an exclusive first look at the first pieces we’ll be releasing as NFTs on KnownOrigin.
LIFE’s first cover on November 23, 1963 of Fort Peck Dam.
(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)
Original print of first LIFE Cover from 1936, that will be on view at our largest retrospective to date, at the Boston MFA, in October 2022.
(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)
A contact sheet from 1936 of aerial views of Fort Peck Dam’s landscape.
(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)
Portrait of LIFE’s first hired and first female staff photographer, Margaret Bourke-White. She was on assignment in Algeria, standing in front of Flying Fortress bomber in which she made combat mission photographs of the U.S. attack on Tunis, 1943.
(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)
A workman crawls inside a giant pipe segment, Fort Peck, Montana. The pipe, divided by latticelike support struts, was used to divert the flow of the Missouri River during construction of the Fort Peck dam, 1936.
(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)
View of New Deal, Montana, which was one of the six shack towns around the US work relief construction project of the Fort Peck Dam in Fort Peck, Montana, 1936.
(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)
Two children leaning against a sign reading “Entering New Deal, Speed Limit 25 Miles Per Hour” marking the boundary of New Deal, one of the shanty towns which have grown up around the work-relief project at Fort Peck Dam in Montana, 1936.
(Margaret Bourke-White/ LIFE Picture Collection /Shutterstock)
