Stan Wayman standing in a swamp with his camera. (Photo by Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Stan Wayman standing in a swamp with his camera. (Photo by Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Growing up in the Everglades, Stan Wayman (1927-1973) and his brother would hunt raccoons with their dog, and sell the pelts to pay for photography supplies. The boys used an outhouse as a darkroom to develop their pictures of the swamp’s egrets and snakes. In his earlier years at LIFE, Wayman spent a lot of time on the beaches of Cape Canaveral waiting out rocket launches, then his skills took him around the world, covering war and politics. He ran three miles a day for months to train for an Arctic assignment on white wolves—and when he got there he wished he had run 10 miles. Not all his subjects were exotic: “Concentration Camp for Dogs” exposed emaciated and abused dogs that dealers sold to laboratories. The piece elicited a tremendous response from an outraged public. Animal groups gave Wayman the Albert Schweitzer Medal—and a great deal of credit for the passage of the 1966 Animal Welfare Act.

Adapted from The Great LIFE Photographers

Stan Wayman with his camera taking photos of a Walrus hut. (Photo by Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Stan Wayman with his camera taking photos of a Walrus hut. (Photo by Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Stan Wayman holding a sloth. (Photo by Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Stan Wayman holding a sloth. (Photo by Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Troika Races at Central Moscow Hippodrome. (Photo by Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

Troika Races at Central Moscow Hippodrome. (Photo by Stan Wayman/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)

More Like This

Wife and daughter of a US soldier sitting in a first class dining car looking out at German "expels" travelling in boxcars. (Photo by Walter Sanders/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Walter Sanders

Bikini clad actress Jayne Mansfield posing with shapely bottles floating around her in her pool. (Photo by Alan Grant/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Allan Grant

Boy Scouts racing down a dune at the Indiana Dunes. (Photo by Michael Rougier/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Michael Rougier

Pitcher Satchel Paige with fans, New York City, 1941. (Photo by George Strock/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

George Strock

Babies crawling during the 8th annual Diaper Service Derby sponsored by the National Institute of Diaper Services. (Photo by Cornell Capa/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Cornell Capa

Children in blitzed north of England eating meal from bread and Lease Lend cheese. (Photo by Hans Wild/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation) Photographer

Hans Wild