Unit 208 ,theme 2- portrait photographer -Margret Bourke -White

Margaret Bourke -White was born in 1904 and was a leader in the new field of photojournalism and worked for Fortune and Life magazines covering most major political and social issues during the 1930's and 1940's.
In 1929 White accepted an offer to become the first staff photographer for Fortune magazine which made its debut in feb 1930.Whites subjects included swift meatpacking company,shoe making, watches ,glass paper mills,orchids and banks . Excited by the drama of the machine ,white was to visit Russia and was the first photographer to seriously document its rapid industrial development .White later published her work in a book called ,Eyes On Russia .White was then assigned to cover the drought in the Midwest states ,this opened her eyes to human suffering and her work changed from advertising  as she began to use her photography as a powerful tool to inform the public.In 1936 White worked with a man called Erskine Caldwell the author of Tobacco Road  ,the results of this produces one of Whites best books You Have Seen Their Faces (1937) .In 1936 White joined LIFE magazine ,one of her first assignments was to fligh to the Arctic Circle .White produced her most famous single photograph , a white family in a car with the caption ,The American Way of Life .
During the world war 1939-1945  White served as a war correspondent affiliated with life and the us air force, her photos revealed the horrors to the world . In 1949 White traveled to South Africa where she recored the cruelty of apartheid and in 1952 where her pictures taken in Korea focused on family sorrows arising from war.
Shortly after she returned from Korea White noticed signs of Parkinsons disease , which she battle with for the rest of her life ,White died in 1971.

The reason for choosing this photographer ,is whites ability to portray the story of real people, with real lives and jobs, with real suffering .Her shots have good composition with the picture telling the story. The black and white images show great detail and texture. 

Dorothea Lange -Migrant mother .

I think this image shows the exhaustion and worry on the womans face , the rule of thirds applies as Dorothea centered with a child on each shoulder .the composition is self explanatory.

This face looks as if it has seen hard work and hardship, the subject is central with texture of the un-shaved toothless man and his tatty work-worn clothes .

I like the fact the pedlar in this image is looking straight into the lens and I also like the position he is stood with the sign behind him.