Report on high school students, Saint Louis (1944). Nina Leen. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.
Nina Leen (1909-1995) was one of the first women photographers at Life Magazine. Born in Russia, she brought an outsider’s perspective to her photojournalism, at a time when American life was experiencing a dramatic post-war shift in reality. Family life, working women, and the secret lives of teenagers became topics of fascination in the decidedly self-aware mid-century consciousness via magazines like Life, and Leen captures the perspective of women beautifully and objectively.