Margaret Bourke-White

[CMoore]

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.

 

[Jim Jones]

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.

 

[DDTJRAC]

Yes, an outstanding photog. Me to with talking to her, but she may not approve of my work. Get some of her books from the library.

I'd prob get along better with Weegee. Some of these gals are really rigid.

 

[Arthurwg]

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."

 

[wyofilm]

What was the giant LF camera she is sometimes photographed with? Here is a link:

http://time.com/4355162/margaret-bourke-white-cameras/

 

[macfred]

Fairchild F-8 http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Fairchild_F-8

 

[Canuck]

Looks like a Kodak K20 camera or a variant of it.

 

[wyofilm]

Thanks guys! Looks like it is the Fairchild. What a beast. Definitely not a vacation camera.

 

[removed account4]

there was a film years ago and farrah fawcett majors played her,
it was a fantastic movie ... of an amazing photographer..

 

[CMoore]

there was a film years ago and farrah fawcett majors played her,
it was a fantastic movie ... of an amazing photographer..

Really......i will have to do a search.
Thanks

 

[Arklatexian]

What was the giant LF camera she is sometimes photographed with? Here is a link:

http://time.com/4355162/margaret-bourke-white-cameras/

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!

 

[macfred]

Much of her photographic gear is preserved and documented in a collection of her materials at Syracuse University (from camera wiki).
https://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/b/bourke-white_m.htm#series5

 

[choiliefan]

She was also portrayed by Candice Bergen in the 1980 film Gandhi.
IIRC she was photographing him with a Rolleicord.

 

[Zelph]

there was a film years ago and farrah fawcett majors played her,
it was a fantastic movie ... of an amazing photographer..

Wonder who will be chosen to play Sally Mann when a movie is made of her life? She is a modern Photographic master in every sense of the word.