Life photographer Yale Joel standing in front of one of his photographs. (Photo by Gordon Parks/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Life photographer Yale Joel standing in front of one of his photographs. (Photo by Gordon Parks/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

After spending World War II in Italy as an Army combat photographer, Yale Joel (1919-2006) returned to the U.S., and in 1947 joined the staff at LIFE, where he spent the next quarter century working out of LIFE’S Washington, D.C., Paris, Boston and New York City news bureaus. He was known for his versatility, often traipsing along the East Coast capturing Americana. His forte was the tricky shot that required esoteric equipment or choreographed setups.

Adapted from The Great LIFE Photographers

Yale University. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Yale University. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Writer Gloria Steinem sitting cross-legged on floor w. sign We Shall Overcome re pop culture (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Writer Gloria Steinem sitting cross-legged on floor w. sign We Shall Overcome re pop culture (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Rock group The Doors performing at the Fillmore East. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

The Doors performed at the Fillmore East, 1968.

Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation

Playing field and packed stands during Army-Navy game. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Playing field and packed stands during Army-Navy game. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

More Like This

Boy looking at a cow in London. (Photo by Ian Smith/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Ian Smith

Wide-angle photo of the floor at the Democratic convention with John F. Kennedy supporters.(Photo by Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Ralph Crane

Basset Hound being bathed in back yard. (Photo by Robert W. Kelley/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Robert W. Kelley

A pilot looking out the window of a plane. (Photo by Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Bill Ray

The watermelon stripe baby Tapir stretching out beside the older family member at the Brookfield zoo.(Photo by Francis Miller/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Francis Miller

Women marching in New York at the Women's Strike for Equality, a march in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. (Photo by John Olson/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

John Olson