When White and his wife returned to Newark, they were not in a prosperous situation. In order to make ends meet he and his bride moved in with his parents, and he continued to work long hours at his bookkeeping job. He initially had no interest in pursuing photography as a possible career, and even after he became successful he continued to work as a bookkeeper for many years. Most of his earnings went to providing for his family, and his early involvement in photography was financially challenging. Later his student Ralph Steiner recalled that White told him during this period he had money for only two glass plate negatives each week, and he would spend every spare moment planning what he would do with those two plates on his weekend."