Photographic Hero - Margaret Bourke-White

I apologize in advance for the formatting. Blogger changes it EVERY time I attempt to edit my post. I have no control.

“Saturate yourself with your subject and the camera will all but take you by the hand.”

-Margaret Bourke-White

For this assignment, I'll be reviewing three personally selected photographs from Margaret Bourke-White's work, using the information I've learned in school about technicalities, and also adding cute quips of my own opinion.

The first photo, is titled Concentration Camp Internees Cheer.

Margaret Bourke-White,

Concentration Camp Internees Cheer,1945, gelatin silver print,

courtesy of Cam and Wander Garner, copyright (c) Getty-Time/Life

I find this photo really interesting, as Margaret Bourke-White did a significant amount of photography within functioning concentration camps. To her, as the person in the situation of the photographer, it must have been as much of a celebration as it was for these subjects. The men in the photo are looking at the camera with expressions that seem to create a connection between the viewer and themselves, as it seems as if there was a connection between them and Bourke-White. In the photo, you can see a few body parts floating around the edges of the frame, showing that some (or perhaps many) persons were cropped out of the photo. While there may have been a larger subject matter, Margaret zoomed in to enlarge the faces, fill the frame, and nicely arrange the rows of men into the Rule of Thirds. I do wonder what was said, and who said it, to create the action of the subjects, and to really make this photo into the epic piece of work that it is.

The second photo is titled Machine Dance, and depicts European ballet students.

Margaret Bourke-White. Machine Dance, Moscow Ballet School,

1931 © Corkin Shopland Gallery, Toronto

An unusual photo for Bourke-White, these young girls have been made faceless by the Title and pose selection in this picture. Bourke-White started her career as an industry photographer, and really specialized in finding patterns and unique ways of creating shape or motion with the lines of the image. Here, she compares this dance group with Machinery, implying, perhaps

, perfection in their dance, a high level of skill, or a monotony of many things (life as a young woman, the structure of ballet, the expectations placed upon these subjects in dance and life, etc etc). The arranged pattern, whether it was choreographed by the Dance School or Margaret Bourke-White, smartly links all the subjects with a flow that does imply efficiency and great synchronicity. The angle of the camera creates a leading line, drawing the eye from the front right of the photo, to the back left, where the eye travels along the top line, and brings you back to the starting point (bottom right).

Alternately, when you google 'Machine Dance', you will find a link to this amusing video of men dancing on treadmills. The Modern Machine Dance.

Also Try: The Modern Machine Dance replicated by High School Students.

The third photo is quite recognizable and popular. It is Mohandas Gandhi, in Spinning Thread.

Margaret Bourke-White. Spinning Thread,

© 1946

If you're familiar with the other popular Bourke-White photo of Ghandi, and were born in my generation, you may have grown up with similar thoughts about this man...

I thought Ghandi was a weaver, until I was about 15 years old. I also thought that the photo of him, with his spinning wheel, was terrible. And this one, without the wheel, was even worse. While I understood that it would be hard to photograph a weaver, I thought he looked a little... dumb... in the picture.

Now that being said. These photos require a lot of context before you can understand and appreciate them. Without that, you see a poor man holding a piece of thread, and you might appreciate the way the frame hugs the body, and the way you feel as if you are really perhaps in the room with the man, but you will likely not call this a great photo. Add the fact that this is an influential world leader, and the whole situation changes. Add the fact that Margaret was the last journalist to see Gandhi before his assassination, and you have the dramatic effect imprinted in what was originally a dull photo. In this instance, I feel as if the more context you have, the greater the photograph becomes. The spinning wheel is also a great metaphor of Gandhi's, as explained further in this quote.

"To Gandhi, civilization was equated with good conduct. Western culture was plagued by various maladies such as materialism, competition and overindulgence. An assimilation in that direction would only hurt India and the depressed classes. Industrialization as advocated by Ambedkar would only cause the further exploitation of the Untouchables. Labor saving machines would result in more unemployment, further starvation, poverty and homelessness. It would provide benefits for the few and suffering for the many. Gandhi believed progress would not be thwarted by the refusal of labor saving machines because the only progress that mattered was that that considered all people. To Gandhi, progress is only progress if all Indians progressed together. The only device that considered the needs of all Indians was the spinning wheel. With it people could become self sufficient and labor for their benefit."

Cited from Resistance to the Soul : Gandhi and His Critics, Michael F. Plotkin

Other sources say Bourke-White was required to learn how to use a spinning wheel before actually meeting with Gandhi, despite her deadlines.

With all this information, the photo does take on another meaning, a certain greatness, and the legendary status that it carries with it.