“Perishability is important in a picture. If a photograph looks perishable we say, 'Gee, I'm glad I have that moment.'"

John Loengard was born in New York City in 1934, and received his first assignment from LIFE magazine in 1956, while still an undergraduate at Harvard College. He joined the magazine's staff in 1961, and in 1978 was instrumental in its re-birth as a monthly, serving as picture editor until 1987. Under his guidance in 1986, LIFE received the first award for "Excellence in Photography" given by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

In 1996, Loengard received a Lifetime Achievement Award "in recognition of his multifaceted contributions to photojournalism," from Photographic Administrators Inc. Books of Loengard's photographs include: Pictures Under Discussion, which won the Ansel Adams Award for book photography in 1987, Celebrating the Negative, and Georgia O'Keeffe at Ghost Ranch.

One of his most recent books, LIFE Photographers: What They Saw, was named one of the year's ten top books by the New York Times. Loengard also wrote the introduction to the book published in 2004 by Bulfinch Press, The Great LIFE Photographers.  His latest book, As I See It, was published by Vendome Press in October 2005.