Photos We Can't Forget

From CHEN account manager Juli Greenwood...

The American Society of Magazine Editors recently released its list of the top 40 magazine covers of all time.

The Boston Globe published the top 10. (Site registration is fast and free.) Annie Leibovitz's famous portrait of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, which graced the cover of Rolling Stone in 1981, is number one. Just hours after the photo was taken, Lennon was murdered outside of his apartment building in New York City. Sixth on the list is The New Yorker's 9/11 issue. Its almost entirely black cover with shadowy Twin Towers is chilling.

Scanning through all the images is a journey through time.

Confident we won't have to exist without our copies of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker anytime soon, storytelling is absolutely changing its form. Like novels, quality magazines -- like those featured on the list -- are critically important. But while print media outlets continue to battle decreased subscription numbers and lag behind on-line in ad sales, you have to wonder what future lists will look like. Screen shots of on-line versions carrying multiple images, headlines and advertisements? I personally hope not.