There's a story in the career of Margaret Bourke-White that survives even the humdrum telling here. And it does, properly,...

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AN EYE ON THE WORLD: Margaret Bourke-White, Photographer

There's a story in the career of Margaret Bourke-White that survives even the humdrum telling here. And it does, properly, begin in childhood--with her withdrawn father, who nonetheless shared with her his interest in things mechanical; with her competent mother, who systematically helped her overcome her fears and trained her to excell; with her own avid, assiduously pursued interest in nature; and, altogether, her solitary seriousness. That she became an exceptionally attractive woman only advanced her single-mindedness: once she discovered photography in a class with Clarence White, she became, on campus, ""the girl who takes pictures""; and once her pictures of Cornell buildings won expert praise, she plunged into architectural photography. Now Margaret Bourke-White (the result of joining her mother's and father's surnames), she applied herself to solving the problems of photographing the making of steel; and the resulting pictures brought renown and, with it, a call from Henry Lute. For six months each year, she photographed industrial subjects for Fortune; the other six, she devoted to lucrative advertising work. But an exposure to the Dust Bowl brought a ""new social awareness,"" an end to advertising photography, and collaboration with Erskine Caldwell on a documentary record of southern poverty that became You Have Seen Their Faces. Duly noted thereafter are their long love-affair, eventual marriage, and subsequent divorce (""She admitted she was unable to compromise with her work""); her WW II exploits, especially in bombarded, besieged Moscow; her later assignments in India, the Arctic, and South Africa; and her last, unyielding struggle against Parkinson's disease. At no point does Siegel get inside her subject or demonstrate any feeling for photography, but Bourke-White's was an eventful life and a singular accomplishment--reason enough, for some, to make her acquaintance.

Pub Date: May 1, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Warne

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1980

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