{"id":5354302,"date":"2019-10-18T19:44:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T19:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/?post_type=photographer&#038;p=5354302"},"modified":"2025-11-20T15:31:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T15:31:42","slug":"martha-holmes","status":"publish","type":"photographer","link":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/martha-holmes\/","title":{"rendered":"Martha Holmes"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote id=\"single-block_b037ec65ba9df9c82f7d54d31495faf0\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5355936 desc=\"Asset ID: 1198506. \" caption=\"LIFE photographer Martha Holmes working on assignment. (Photo by George Cardoza\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/mx\/AssetCache\/life-merlinone-net-MX-\/1198506\/obj\/1198506-1021x1024.jpg\" alt=\"LIFE photographer Martha Holmes working on assignment. (Photo by George Cardoza\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\"><\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">LIFE photographer Martha Holmes working on assignment. (Photo by George Cardoza\/The LIFE Picture Collection \u00a9 Meredith Corporation)<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Martha Holmes (1923-2006) was one of those photographers who strove to make her subjects took good. She would find their best side, shadow their thinning hair or even touch up the picture afterwards. &#8220;If they know you&#8217;re on their side\u2014and I am\u2014that helps,&#8221; Holmes once said. A Kentucky native and elegant dresser, when she began her career at the Louisville Courier-Journal she always wore &#8220;a frilly little dress&#8221; on Sundays. One weekend, a fire broke out, and working that story got her to switch to culottes. She eventually donned slacks, but in any outfit, Holmes remained her unique, warm, courtly self.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adapted from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Great-LIFE-Photographers-Editors\/dp\/0316097934\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1EH15RRHPZHFO&amp;keywords=the+great+life+photographers&amp;qid=1570115481&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=the+great+life+photogr%2Caps%2C142&amp;sr=8-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Great LIFE Photographers<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<blockquote id=\"double-block_a09daf912a937ed99c951c2271a56c06\" class=\"double-image aligncenter\">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5355933 desc=\"\" caption=\"A view of picket lines in front of Paramount Studios during a set directors strike.  (Photo by Martha Holmes\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/18194056\/GettyImages-50498998-e1571427675620-854x1024.jpg\" alt=\"A view of picket lines in front of Paramount Studios during a set directors strike. (Photo by Martha Holmes\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\"><\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">A view of picket lines in front of Paramount Studios during a set directors strike.  (Photo by Martha Holmes\/The LIFE Picture Collection \u00a9 Meredith Corporation)<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5355934 desc=\"\" caption=\"Painter Jackson Pollock smoking as he squats on floor, applying paint to canvas in Long Island studio.  (Photo by Martha Holmes\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/18194123\/GettyImages-50415365-e1571427701393-1003x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Painter Jackson Pollock smoking as he squats on floor, applying paint to canvas in Long Island studio. (Photo by Martha Holmes\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\"><\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Painter Jackson Pollock smoking as he squats on floor, applying paint to canvas in Long Island studio.  (Photo by Martha Holmes\/The LIFE Picture Collection \u00a9 Meredith Corporation)<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_3e94e60cf3ec5f79ffb2c13e344708fc\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5355935 desc=\"\" caption=\"Dean of Santas giving lecture at the Waldorf Santa Convention.  (Photo by Martha Holmes\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/18194218\/GettyImages-50516126-e1571427758203-1024x999.jpg\" alt=\"Dean of Santas giving lecture at the Waldorf Santa Convention. (Photo by Martha Holmes\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\"><\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Dean of Santas giving lecture at the Waldorf Santa Convention.  (Photo by Martha Holmes\/The LIFE Picture Collection \u00a9 Meredith Corporation)<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_ab09d710bc0bbd31d104b6ebdabb9693\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=3878485 desc=\"&lt;strong&gt;Caption from LIFE.&lt;\/strong&gt; &quot;The tiger and the lady finally hit it right. Bent at the waist and knees, they Charleston in graceless perfection. Barbara borrowed authentic dress from sister-in-law&#039;s mother. Ed rented phony tiger hide from New York Costume Company. He performs in it during halves at Princeton football games, Charlestoned at game the next day.&quot;\" caption=\"Martha Holmes Time &amp;amp; LIfe Pictures\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Princeton Charleston Contest, 1949\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2013\/12\/131210-princeton-tiger-1949-03.jpg\" alt=\"Princeton Charleston dance contest, 1949\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Princeton Charleston Contest, 1949<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Martha Holmes Time &amp; LIfe Pictures\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_16abe9d8f6818d19ac3571f2418ebcef\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5368269 desc=\"\" caption=\"Martha Holmes\/The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Jimmy Stewart during a break in the filming of It&#039;s a Wonderful Life.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/11200539\/115862543_preview-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Jimmy Stewart during a break in the filming of It&#8217;s a Wonderful Life.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Martha Holmes\/The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Martha Holmes (1923-2006) was one of those photographers who strove to make her subjects took good. She would find their best side, shadow their thinning hair or even touch up the picture afterwards. &#8220;If they know you&#8217;re on their side\u2014and I am\u2014that helps,&#8221; Holmes once said. A Kentucky native and elegant dresser, when she began &#8230; <a title=\"Martha Holmes\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/martha-holmes\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3878485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5354302","photographer","type-photographer","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Photography of Martha Holmes | LIFE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about Martha Holmes, one of the many photographers for LIFE who captured some of the most iconic pictures from the US &amp; around the World.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/martha-holmes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Photography of Martha Holmes | LIFE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn about Martha Holmes, one of the many photographers for LIFE who captured some of the most iconic pictures from the US &amp; around the World.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/martha-holmes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LIFE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T15:31:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2013\/12\/131210-princeton-tiger-1949-03.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/martha-holmes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/martha-holmes\/\",\"name\":\"The Photography of Martha Holmes | LIFE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/martha-holmes\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/martha-holmes\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2013\/12\/131210-princeton-tiger-1949-03.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-18T19:44:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-20T15:31:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn about Martha Holmes, one of the many photographers for LIFE who captured some of the most iconic pictures from the US & around the World.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/martha-holmes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/martha-holmes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/martha-holmes\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2013\/12\/131210-princeton-tiger-1949-03.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2013\/12\/131210-princeton-tiger-1949-03.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"Martha Holmes Time &amp; 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