1968: Robert Lebeck's iconic photography

It's an iconic picture by photojournalist Robert Lebeck: of President John F. Kennedy's widow, Jackie Kennedy (r), and her sister, Lee Radziwill, kneeling at the coffin of Senator Robert F. Kennedy during his funeral in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. "Bobby" Kennedy was assassinated in June 1968; with him died the hope for a quick end to the war in Vietnam.

As he was one of the three main candidates for the presidential campaign in 1968, Robert Kennedy's death threw the Democratic Party into chaos, strongly impacting the presidential primaries and the anti-Vietnam War movement. Here, Robert Lebeck captured Republican Richard Nixon while campaigning in New Hampshire. Nixon ultimately won the presidential election in November 1968.

Robert Lebeck was not in Paris or Berlin during the Spring 1968 students revolts. Instead, he was in Florida photographing the baptism of German actress Hildegard Knef's daughter. He did, however, make it to Prague later that spring, capturing the atmosphere of newfound press freedom following a brief liberalization. That, however, came to a halt with the invasion of the Soviets in August.

Art and politics were not separate matters, and certainly not in 1968. Here, Robert Lebeck captured artist Joseph Beuys (right) with his family during the opening of the art show documenta 4, where Beuys was presenting his artwork. Lebeck photographed other works at documenta in Kassel, Germany, including a happening by Wolf Vostell. Those intense photographs were published in Stern magazine.

Lebeck was also interested in normal, everyday people, recording and photographing them in countless reportage series of cultural traditions in Germany. Here, he captured women in uniform participating in a "shooting" or marksmen festival in Wolfsburg, a traditional event called in German a "Schützenfest."

Robert Lebeck was a politically committed photo journalist. Thus, he focused on the changing tide among women in 1968, creating a well-received reportage series entitled "Die Geschiedenen" (The Divorced). It portrayed women who dared to file for divorce, and their children, during a period in Germany in which the country was still rebuilding itself. Divorce, however, did not always mean freedom.

Robert Lebeck's speciality was capturing moments of touching intimacy in the midst of hustle and bustle. Despite his large stature, he remained unobtrusive as a photographer, positioning the camera in a way that went unnoticed. Here, prominent film stars such as Diana Rigg and Curd Jürgens apparently felt unobserved on the film set of "The Assassination Bureau."