--- title: Gorgeous Color Photographs of South Sea Islands From 1955 description: Photographer Eliot Elisofon captured the magic of Tahiti, while traveling more than 10,000 miles back and forth through Polynesia canonical: https://time.com/3980464/elisofon-polynesia-life-magazine/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-07T12:00:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:11.225Z og:title: Gorgeous Color Photographs of South Sea Islands From 1955 og:description: Photographer Eliot Elisofon captured the magic of Tahiti og:url: https://time.com/3980464/elisofon-polynesia-life-magazine/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d6590a3a4b1bedd/69885d61f887dc61a1e91a67/150731-tahiti-13.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: South Seas 1955 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gorgeous Color Photographs of South Sea Islands From 1955 twitter:description: Photographer Eliot Elisofon captured the magic of Tahiti twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d6590a3a4b1bedd/69885d61f887dc61a1e91a67/150731-tahiti-13.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stunning Color Photographs of the Islands That Inspired Great Works of Art by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jul 7, 2016 12:00 PM UTC  A Tahitian woman walking her horse through the jungle. A Tahitian woman walking her horse through the jungle.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jul 7, 2016 12:00 PM UTC The islands of Polynesia have long been a source of inspiration to visitors. Perhaps most famous is painter [Paul Gauguin](http://content.time.com/time/travel/article/0,31542,1903984,00.html), but literary icons like [Herman Melville](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,861341,00.html) and Robert Louis Stevenson also found something special in the islands’ unique environment and culture. It was with that knowledge in mind that LIFE photographer Eliot Elisofon set out for Polynesia. Along with his wife, he traveled thousands of miles around [the region,](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1930464,00.html) hoping to provide LIFE readers with a hint of what made the place such a rich wellspring of art. The result was a Jan. 24, 1955, photo essay entitled, simply, [_Voyages to Paradise_](https://books.google.com/books?id=61MEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA1&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false)_._ His work gives new meaning to the idea of “vacation reading,” with each photograph paired with a passage from a work of literature inspired by the islands. The dancers seen in the first slide above, for example, Elisofon saw as a picture of those whom Melville lauded in _Typee_, writing that “not only do their feet dance, but their arms, hands, fingers, ay, their very eyes, seem to dance in their leads.” The ship seen in the fifth slide was described by Frederick O’Brien in _Atolls of the Sun_. And the aerial view of Bora Bora seen in slide three was just as James A. Michener had described it in _Return to Paradise_: “I saw it first from an airplane. On the horizon there was a speck that became a tall, blunt mountain with cliffs dropping sheer into the sea. About the base of the mountain, narrow fingers of land shot out, forming magnificent bays, while about the whole was thrown a coral ring of absolute perfection, dotted with small motus on which palms grew…” Not every photograph Elisofon took made it into print, so we cannot say whether there are particular literary scenes with which he associated the outtakes. And yet we know for sure that these islands can inspire greatness. Perhaps the images in these unmatched photos will someday inspire works of art of their own.  Caption from LIFE. Girls in frangipani blossoms swirling in a frenzied dance. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. An old couple resting in Takaroa. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Bora Bora as the airborne author saw it. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. A resident of Apia amiably matching a literary portrait. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. County of Roxbough on Takaroa reef. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Tahitian girl bathing. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Children in Tahiti, 1955. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A fisherman looking out at the sea. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A Tahitian woman playing the Ukelele. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A Tahitian man, 1955. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. The sacred grounds of the Typee valley. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The south seas, 1955. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A Tahitian woman walking her horse through the jungle. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sunset over the south seas, 1955. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Fiery greeting for canoes in Tahiti. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. A view from the beach on a Samoan evening. 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