Margaret Bourke-White was one of the most respected photojournalists in the United States during the 1930s and 40s and a pioneer in the field. She was the first female photographer to work in the U.S. Armed Forces and one of the first staff photographers at Life Magazine. Among some of her most famous assignments: she was the first Western photographer to take pictures in Stalin's Russia, she captured some of the first photographs inside German concentration camps following the end of World War II, and she shot the last pictures of Mahatma Gandhi in India. She is celebrated for her ability to capture the intensity of major world events while creating dynamic compositions.

One of her well-known images, Louisville Flood Red Cross Relief Station, was recently added to the collection. The photograph depicts Black flood victims at a Red Cross relief station after the 1937 flood of the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky. As the figures line up in front of a billboard that ironically celebrates the "World's highest standard of living," it is an excellent example of Bourke-White's ability to capture an image that cuts right to the heart of the issue.

Source: DMAC News May Jun Jul Aug 2022