Monks Celebrating Buddha's 2500th Anniversary in Burma

About the Photographer

Dominis, John

American (1921-2013)

For much of his career John Dominis worked as a photographer for LIFE magazine. In this capacity he covered noteworthy events throughout the world, such as the early years of the Vietnam War, Woodstock, celebrations for the Buddha's 2500th birthday in Burma, Nixon's trip to China, and six different Olympic games. As a young man Dominis attended the University of Southern California before enlisting in the Air Force in 1943, against the backdrop of increasing U.S. involvement in World War II. After being discharged in Japan in 1946 Dominis started working as a freelance photographer for a number of American publications, including the Saturday Evening Post and LIFE. He continued to work for LIFE upon his return to the United States, and in 1950, after volunteering to cover the Korean War, the magazine hired him as a staff photographer. Dominis was later stationed in Dallas and Chicago and traveled widely on assignment. In 1974 he began working as a photo editor, first at People Magazine through 1978, and then at Sports Illustrated from 1978 to 1982.