Jessica Cimmiyotti November 13, 2013 Period 2 Mrs. Larsen

WHO? Margaret Bourke-White is an American photographer who became best known for capturing many American history events such as World War II and the Great Depression in photographs. She was also the first female photographer for both Fortune and LIFE magazine, first war correspondent, and the first Western photographer allowed into the Soviet Union. This PowerPoint will show many of her accomplishments and why she’s influenced many people today.

STYLE All of Margaret’s photos were shot in black and white as a tool to let people come close to her photos as if you were really there. At first, industrial was what she was really into but when she turned to people, the world was amazed at how she captured their expressions for the various time periods she captured.

EW: Skyscrapers Her career began in 1927 after graduating from Cornell University. Her first photo job was photographing bridges and skyscrapers in Cleveland, Ohio. Picture on the side was taken in NYC /10

EW: Factories Margaret moved onto photographing factories later that year. The major influence was that she and her dad toured factories when she was a child. Shooting the Otis Steel Mill helped her really develop her personal style. 7/10

EW: Pigs? Margaret’s industrial photos caught the attention of Henry Luce. He then hired her as the first photographer at Fortune magazine in Her first assignment was capturing photos at “Swift & Co”. 8/10

EW: The Soviet Union After that assignment, she went to Russia and captured pictures of life in the Soviet Union. Many of the pictures included farmers, factories, Stalin etc. for the world to see. 10/10

EW: LIFE After long-life success with Fortune, she found herself a job with LIFE Magazine which helped her photos become even more famous. Fort Peck Dam, Missouri River, /10

MW: Dust Bowl During the 1930’s, a series of dust storms broke out mainly in the US prairies which became known as “The Dust Bowl”. Both Margaret and Dorothea Lange, another famous photographer captured this event.

MW: Great Depression While still working for LIFE, Margaret traveled to the South where many areas were rural with poverty. This became known as “the Great Depression.”

MW: Great Depression (continued) While down South, Margaret was with Erskine Caldwell who together both captured photos for You Have Seen Their Faces, a book showing the rural South in images.

MW: World War II When World War II broke out in the early 40’s, Margaret joined a group of female photographers and head off to Germany to capture it.

MW: World War II (continued) The most difficult part of heading off to Germany was of how many suffered. She even went to the concentration camps and photographed sick and even dead prisoners.

LW: India After the war, Margaret still continued photographing but concentrated more on humanitarian issues. She spent 1946 to 1948 photographing the many issues India was starting to have.

LW: India (continued) One of Margaret’s most famous photos was taken in India of the peace leader, Gandhi. This picture of him next to a spinning wheel was taken just hours before he was killed.

LW: South Africa In 1949 to 1950, Margaret headed to South Africa for five months. She captured mostly the blacks who had to work as miners or were prisoned.

LW: Korean War In 1952, when the North invaded the South, Margaret flew to Korea to photograph it.

LW: Final Years In 1952, Margaret was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The final story for LIFE magazine she wrote was in In 1963, she published her autobiography and then died in 1971.

DATES

LIKES Margaret Bourke-White is definitely one of the greatest photographers in the world. She was so daring to take photographs even in difficult situations as taking pictures on top of a skyscraper and going to Germany.

DISLIKES I really don’t have anything negative to say about Margaret as a photographer because she captured so many US historic events in well done black n white photographs.

INSPIRATION Margaret Bourke-White was mainly inspired to do photography by her father who was very interested in cameras. She then really got into photography when her father died in 1922.

EXHIBITS Currently at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures in Bloomington, ID, many rare photos Margaret took are on display there until December. In 2014, the exhibit will be moved to the Bensusan Museum of Photography in Johannesburg, South Africa and the Michaelis Galleries in Cape Town, South Africa.

WORKS CITED “Margaret Bourke-White." Margaret Bourke- White. “Margaret Bourke-White (American Photographer)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Margaret Bourke-White." Photography and the Great Depression.

Question & Answers