Bernard Hoffman

Bernard Hoffman was born in New York City in 1913,[1] and little is publicly known about his youth, besides the fact that he received a camera as a birthday present in 1931, when he was 18 years of age.

In 1935, he accepted a job as staff photographer for Life, the first of the original four members of that department, as Henry Luce revamped the publication into an all-photographic American news magazine.

In his role as staff photographer, Hoffman worked on dummy layouts and design elements prior to the reworked magazine's debut on November 23, 1936, as well as contributing photography for the first issue.

According to the International Center of Photography in a brochure for a Bernard Hoffman exhibit, "...politics, heavy industry, science, medicine, beauty, sports, animals, theatre, agriculture, art, photo-micrography, motion pictures.

"[4] Notable events during his 18 years with Life include: Of Hoffman's photography in covering the war in the China-Burma-India Theatre, General "Vinegar" Joe Stilwell said, "It is the best collection of pictures of this type that I have ever seen."

[1] The resulting detailed prints led to the belief that a person aiming a rifle at the President stood atop a car behind a wall near the path of the motorcade.

Additionally, the United States Atomic Energy Commission regularly consulted BHL as an expert in important film and print analyses.