life:
David Schonauer worked as editor-in-chief of American Photo magazine from 1990 to 2009 — Now a freelance writer, he shares his thoughtful perspective on the art of photography.
In this LIFE.com exclusive, Schonauer turns his attention to heroism, and how that at-once familiar and strangely enigmatic theme has been portrayed by some of LIFE’s most acclaimed photographers. “What strikes me about heroes and heroism,” Schonauer notes, “is how often we get the heroes we need.”
Pictured: In this 1950 picture shot of Neil Koenig, a 9-year-old with cerebral palsy, Morse found a subject whose heroism was simply walking unassisted through a school doorway and into a classroom for the very first time. He used the doorway to full advantage, framing the boy as he marches out of one place — one reality — and into another.
read more — LIFE: Looking for Heroes
Filed under photo photography hero Heroes
[x] broken a promise
[x] made a new friend
[x] fell in love
[x] fell out of love
[x] done something you swore never to do
[x] lied
[x] stole
[x] went behind your parents back
[x] cried over a broken heart
[x] disappointed someone close
[x] hidden a secret
[x] pretended to be happy
[] got arrested
[x] kissed in the rain
[x] slept under the stars
[x] gotten in a fight
[] kept your new years resolution
[x] forgot your new years resolution
[x] met someone who changed your life
[] met one of your idols
[x] changed your outlook on life
[x] sat home all day doing nothing
[x] pretended to be sick
[] left the country
[x] almost died
[x] drank yourself retarded
[x] lost someone close to you
[x] been to the hospital
[x] gotten closer to someone
[] streaked
[x] cried over someone
[x] broken up with a gf or bf
[x] given up something important to you
[x] talked on the phone all night
[x] learned something new about yourself
[x] tried something you normally wouldn’t try and liked it
[x] made a change in your life
[x] found out who your true friends were
[xx] made a total fool of yourself
[x] met great people
