I never realized how prolific and ubiquitous she was, and for A LONG Time.
Her name was at the forefront of photography for many years.
I also had no idea of her health struggles, or that she died at such a "young" age.
I might be jaded because of my age and what i am interested in. I do not see those types of careers happening much anymore.
It seems as though photographers, like her, were of a time. Like Rock-Stars of the 1960's and 1970's.....there are still Lots Of Awesome Musicians (of that genre) , but they do not have the same "Success" of those earlier decades.
Just the absence of Time-Life sculpted a change in the "importance" of photographers.
Anyway.......her presence was phenomenal. I would love to be able to talk to her for a few Hours/Days.
Margaret Bourke-White was a product of her time. Opportunities for spectacular advancement abounded. Consider Dwight Eisenhower, a relatively obscure American Army Colonel in late 1941, just before Pearl harbor. Four years later he was the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. Ernie Pyle had been a folksy recorder of American life before becoming a famous, wealthy, and ill-fated war correspondent during the war. Audie Murphy was a sharecropper's son who dropped out of high school to help support his many siblings in the absence of parents early in the war, but became America's most decorated soldier and a successful movie star.
Love her work and her story. Her biography, by Vicki Goldberg, is very much worth reading. So is her own book following WWII, "Dear Fatherland, Rest Quietly." (1946).
As for her career, I agree that it's unlikely we'll ever see anything like it (or other similar) again. As a wise man once said, "The heroic period of photography is over."
While I don't know the different aerial cameras made during WW2, it definitely is an aerial camera. I probably would bet that the picture of her was made with a Leica as it was made by Alfred Eisenstaedt who was known for his use of Leicas. He took the picture of the sailor kissing the nurse in New York at the end of WW2. Bourke-White died of Parkinson's disease after being in remission from using L-Dopa. I rode in an elevator twice with her at a hotel during a PSA National Convention. She was there to receive an honor from the PSA. At that time, she needed help getting on and off the elevator. Sad!.......Regards!