FOR decades, Margaret Bourke-White travelled the world documenting life at the height of political tension with her camera.
Her photo-journalistic images humanised major historical events, including World War II and the India-Pakistan partition violence.
New York
FOR decades, Margaret Bourke-White travelled the world documenting life at the height of political tension with her camera.
Her photo-journalistic images humanised major historical events, including World War II and the India-Pakistan partition violence.
New York-born Margaret decided to leave behind her zoology degree at Columbia University to pursue her interest in photography.
After moving to Cleveland, Ohio, she set up her own commercial studio and focused her efforts on architectural and industrial photography.
One of her first projects captured the workers at Otis Steel Company.
She impressed her clients by working inside the gritty mill and also overcame tricky shooting conditions by using new magnesium flare technology, which brought light to the images.
Her work with Otis Steel Company attracted global attention, and Margaret was hired as the first female photojournalist for LIFE magazine in 1936.
One of her most iconic images depicted victims of the Great Ohio River flood of 1937.
The provocative picture shows people queuing for food and clothing from the Red Cross relief station, in front of a billboard ironically preaching: “World’s highest standard of living, there’s no way like the American way.”
Remarkably, Bourke-White was the first ever female war correspondent, and also the first woman to be allowed to work in combat zones in WWII.
This great achievement was honoured when she was made a Women’s History Month Honouree by the National Women’s History Project.
In 1945, Margaret visited Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald, which is located near Weimar, Germany.
She later told the Dear Fatherland, Rest Quietly, project that it was difficult to cope with some of the harrowing war scenes she had witnessed.
The photographer confessed: “Using a camera was almost a relief. It interposed a slight barrier between myself and the horror in front of me.”
Other renowned images taken by the Bourke-White were published during the India-Pakistan partition violence.
She was also the woman behind an iconic photograph of Mahandas K. Gandhi.
The Indian independence movement leader looks deep in thought in the portrait that shows him sitting beside a spinning wheel.
Most Read in Living
DEAR DEIDREI left my cheating ex-husband after he pushed me into having a threesome... but I can't seem to move on
SLIPPERY CUSTOMERThere's a huge snake hiding in this garden... so can YOU spot the reptile? (And, no, it's not that black hose)
POWDER KEGJohnson & Johnson ordered to pay £323 million to woman who claimed talc caused her ovarian cancer
PLASTIC FANTASTICBrothel shells out £6,000 for second sex doll… after their first became MORE popular than real women
BRIGHT IDEABacon, dry spaghetti and brownies... the foods you NEVER knew you could cook in the microwave
'I LOST HALF MY FACE'Paisley dad told his watery eye was a blocked tear duct has giant tumour engulfing half his face removed
cheater trapWife uses camera to catch her'sex offender' husband hitting on a 16-year-old girl… but things turn nasty when he spots the teen's mic
£900-grand designStunning Midlothian home picked as one of the greatest ever to feature on Grand Designs goes on market for almost £1million
PLAY BALLDevious dad creates genius game for his kids so they leave him alone to watch the footie... and it'll have you in stitches
Mystic MegAugust 23: If you are free to start a relationship, a text that consists of just a question mark is your key clue
WAX FACTSBeauty expert reveals the one thing you should NEVER do when it comes to removing pubic hair
After 18 years of battling with Parkinson’s disease, Margaret passed away in a Connecticut hospital aged 67.
Her legacy has lived on, as her photographs have lined the walls of countless museums and even in the Library of Congress.
In 1989, a TV film about her life, Double Exposure: The Story of Margaret Bourke-White, was released.
Her snaps have also been released in a number of biographies and photo collections.
Margaret Bourke-White isn’t the only photographer to