Margaret Bourke-White: Photographer (Hardcover)

~ Sean Callahan (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Margaret Bourke-White and Lewis W. Hine were both imaginative, disciplined, and successful photographers in an era when the medium was finely positioned as an art form. Both these volumes also give visual evidence of their recording of time and place through personal courage. Bourke-White is famous for her daring vantage points, confirmed by the shot of her perched on one of the aluminum eagles high atop the Chrysler Building in New York as she photographed its streamlined details. Hine likewise positioned himself and his camera above New York as the Empire State Building was bolted together. The collection of Bourke-White's work is well produced, with deep tones and fine clarity, reminding those who admire her great gifts of composition and darkroom skill of her significance in the history of photography. Newcomers to her travels and her work will quickly discover a photojournalist and industrial artist whose professional journey left a stunning record of the century. Still fresh and visually exciting after 70 years, Hine's images capture the glory of the Empire State Building and the aerial gymnastics of the steelworkers who built its skeleton. Though focusing on one building may seem confining, Hine's array of photographs from steel framing to completion; Freddy Langer's essay about the photographer, the skyscraper, and New York in the 1930s; and a chronology of the Empire State Building's "life" in the city make for a useful and pleasing volume. Both books are recommended.?David Bryant, New Canaan P.L., CT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

As a young reporter for LIFE, Sean Callahan met a then-retired Margaret Bourke-White which led to a collaboration on The Photographs of Margaret Bourke-White, published in 1972. He went on to create the award-winning American Photographer magazine which he edited for 10 years before moving into new media, currently as VP, Executive Producer of Time Warner Cable's high speed online information service, Road Runner. Over the years he has continued his interest in photography as an editor or author of ten books on the medium.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Bulfinch; 1st edition (October 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821224905
• ISBN-13: 978-0821224908
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #474,380 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Her sense of design and form was and still is incredible!, March 3, 1999

By A Customer

This book illustrates why Margaret Bourke-White should be recognized as one of the 20th century's top photographers. Her ability to capture a moment during war and destruction or an enternity in marble and stone, is awe inspiring. She was not limited by her feminity. She moved easily into the world of machines and factories, capturing molten metal and shiny blades. Again and again, I return to the book and study all aspects of her photographs. The depth of field, the rhythm, the harmony and the life seen in all her photos takes my breath away. Within a few days of purchasing the book, I had the joy of visiting the National Art Gallery of Canada in Ottawa where there are two Margaret Bourke-White photos in their collection. The soft creamy paper used in these pictures counters the hard metal of the image itself. These are the third and fourth Margaret Bourke-White's I have had the pleasure to see in person. The other two was a copy of the original cover for LIFE magazine and a single rose bud. Both of these photos are owned by Margaret Bourke-White's sorority and are featured in their archival collection. The photographic reproductions in this book, although lacking the soft creams of the Art Gallery's copies, do capture the integrity of her photos. I will treasure this book.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a book of photographs by Margaret Bourke-White, October 28, 1998

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

For several years, I would stop in the photography section of whatever bookstore I was in to see if there were any monographs about Margaret Bourke-White's photography. Alas, there were none. Margaret Bourke-White was a remarkable photo-journalist who has given us many remarkable and lasting images of industry, war and society. She joined Life magazine at its founding and died at the time of the magazine's demise in 1972.

This book provides a comprehensive look at her work decade by decade with the best of her best work included with an introduction to each section by Sean Callahan. The appearance of this book is long overdue. A perfect companion to this volume is the biography by Vicki Goldberg.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As documentary images they are as good as any I have seen, September 22, 1998

By A Customer

This large format hard-backed book is a magnificent tribute to one of the world's most renowned women photographers. Published by Pavilion, this landmark retrospective (with a UK street price of 40 pounds) contains 160 pages of some of her most remarkable monochrome images, together with some rarely seen work from her personal archives.

Reproduction is quite literally superb, with the pictures jumping from the page; most images are placed one to a page while some spread the gutter. Those who aspire to create the very best black and white prints should study Bourke-White's work carefully. As fine art photographs they would hang well in any gallery. As documentary images they are as good as any I have seen.

From the 1920s to the 1950s Bourke-White fearlessly recorded objects, people and events that shaped history. First famed as an industrial photographer, she then became on the first staff photographers at Life magazine.

This book is the most complete collection of her work to date and includes photographs from her early days. Images of industrialised America, through to war-torn Korea and the Nazi bombing of Moscow, all show life as it really was, and photographed in such an accomplished way, that the reader can't help but be drawn into them as though it was yesterday.

Few photo books impress me as much as this one. A worthy addition to anyone's collection.