Margaret Bourke-White Essay
Margaret Bourke-White: Photography as Social Commentary
Born in the Bronx, New York in 1904, Margaret Bourke-White was one of the best-known photographers of the twentieth century who was known for her fearless and dramatic photographs. She graduated from Cornell University and started her career as an industrial photographer at a steel company in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1929 she got hired by Fortune Magazine and traveled to the Soviet Union to photograph its industrial development. Bourke-White then got hired at Life Magazine as the first female photojournalist. She was also the first female accredited as a war correspondent by the US Air Force during World War II. She traveled all over the world with US Armed Forces capturing the horrors …show more content…
She traveled all over the globe and captured moving pictures that impacted the way people viewed the world. She was the eyes for the American public, and her photographs allowed the viewers to see what was actually happening in this world in which we live in. To this day, the photographs taken by Bourke-White tell a story of the suffering and pain that innocent people were forced to endure. Through her photos, Bourke-White hoped to bring people a new perspective. She takes this photos to communicate to those who weren’t able to see the aftermath of these horrendous tragedies in person. They allow her with the opportunity to see the impact that war and violent occurrences have on humans. While documenting Buchenwald, Margaret Bourke-White said “Difficult as theses things may be to report or to photograph, it is something we war correspondents must do, We are in a privileged and sometimes unhappy position. We see a great deal of the world. Our obligation is to pass it on to others” (White, Margaret. Portrait of Myself). Bourke-White knew what her purpose was a photographer. She had the skill to communicate a message through a camera lens and use photography as both an art and a social commentary. In Margaret Bourke-White’s photographs, she discovers the desolation this world can have by capturing moving moments to provide social commentary on World War
Born in the Bronx, New York in 1904, Margaret Bourke-White was one of the best-known photographers of the twentieth century who was known for her fearless and dramatic photographs. She graduated from Cornell University and started her career as an industrial photographer at a steel company in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1929 she got hired by Fortune Magazine and traveled to the Soviet Union to photograph its industrial development. Bourke-White then got hired at Life Magazine as the first female photojournalist. She was also the first female accredited as a war correspondent by the US Air Force during World War II. She traveled all over the world with US Armed Forces capturing the horrors …show more content…
She traveled all over the globe and captured moving pictures that impacted the way people viewed the world. She was the eyes for the American public, and her photographs allowed the viewers to see what was actually happening in this world in which we live in. To this day, the photographs taken by Bourke-White tell a story of the suffering and pain that innocent people were forced to endure. Through her photos, Bourke-White hoped to bring people a new perspective. She takes this photos to communicate to those who weren’t able to see the aftermath of these horrendous tragedies in person. They allow her with the opportunity to see the impact that war and violent occurrences have on humans. While documenting Buchenwald, Margaret Bourke-White said “Difficult as theses things may be to report or to photograph, it is something we war correspondents must do, We are in a privileged and sometimes unhappy position. We see a great deal of the world. Our obligation is to pass it on to others” (White, Margaret. Portrait of Myself). Bourke-White knew what her purpose was a photographer. She had the skill to communicate a message through a camera lens and use photography as both an art and a social commentary. In Margaret Bourke-White’s photographs, she discovers the desolation this world can have by capturing moving moments to provide social commentary on World War